Staycation 8 - The Finale

We didn't intend for it to be a two-bottle day, but that's how our staycation ended.

We had another beautiful day on Sunday, so having armed ourselves with nibbles and reading material, we headed to the patio in our garden with the last bottle of champagne that we bought at The Winery. This was a 1996 Cuvee de Chardonnay Champagne Saint-Chamant made by Christian Coquillette.

This was a nice champagne, with honey and toast flavours that accompanied our meat-and-cheese-based tapas very well. While we didn't have any problem finishing the bottle, we were surprised that we weren't more excited about what should have been a great wine from a good year. Like the bottle we had drunk the day before, it was all quite nice, but not very memorable.

So we pulled out the big guns to go with our dessert (apple pie for my husband, chocolate truffles for me) - the bottle of Egly-Ouriet Grand Cru V.P. that we had bought at Lea and Sandeman on Friday. This is a pinot noir blend that the maker leaves on the yeast for an extra-long period of time - making what is already a 'big' champagne even bigger.

We love Egly-Ouriet as a producer, having visited the vineyards many years ago on the recommendation of a friend and before Robert Parker got so excited about their champagne. The V.P. had everything we love about this producer and more - a crisp acidity with a hint of tarragon on the nose and a slight grapefuit flavour but absolutely no sourness or bitterness. This wine has an enormous flavour but an incredible dryness that makes you want to keep drinking. And, on top of everything else, good bubbles.

With Robert Parker's fandom, the prices of this champagne have gone up since we first tried it - but, it's also easier to find in the UK and other parts of the world now. It's worth every penny, and was the perfect way to finish off our staycation.