On Champagne compiled by Susan Keevil

On Champagne is an anthology of Champagne writing compiled and edited by Susan Keevil.

Forty-one essays written between 1882 and 2022, sorted into eight sections covering the houses, the styles, the chalk, the history and whatever comes next. The long view is where the value sits: the same region turns up as a nineteenth-century curiosity, a mid-century luxury, and a place now dealing with a warming climate and a generation of growers who farm quite differently. Evelyn Waugh appears on bubbly in the swinging sixties, in poor humour about New Jersey. Tom Stevenson, Essi Avellan MW, Peter Liem, Tyson Stelzer, Serena Sutcliffe MW and Robert Walters are among the contributors.

Worth having for anyone who drinks Champagne beyond the famous labels, or who wants to understand why grower bottles taste as they do. The sectioned structure means it can be read out of order, an essay at a time, which is how most people will use it.