À la Essi & News

The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships (CSWWC), is delighted to announce the 2023 medal winners with more Gold Medals being awarded than ever before. A total of 170 Gold’s (almost 18%)  & 218 Silver Medals were awarded and all the Gold & Silver 2023 medal winners can be found in the results tab. Celebrating … Read more

After considering nearly 20 applications from brilliant communicators from across the world, the IWSC (International Wine and Spirit Competition) is delighted to share the shortlist for its 2024 Wine Communicator Trophy. This year’s trophy was judged by 2023 winner Jane Anson, 2022 winner Sarah Heller MW, IWSC Judging Committee Member Sarah Abbott MW, as well … Read more

Any Champagne lover knows how frustrating it has been trying to learn about the region’s complex terroirs practically without detailed and up-to-date maps. We have all relied on the original, pioneering maps of Louis Larmat from the 1940s. Finally Charles Curtis MW and Steve De Long came to rescue commencing a comprehensive mapping project of Champagne. In … Read more

Today, Champagne’s ancestral grape varieties Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris represent a minuscule fraction – 0.4 per cent, to be precise – of  plantations, but over the past 20 years their planting has grown by 45 hectares to a total of 136. Even if these varieties do not pose a threat to the … Read more

To celebrate champagne and my 14 years of partnership with photographer Michaël Boudot, we created together Collection 05 ‘Vive la Champagne by Essi Avellan’. The collection is now available on OpenSea for auction for a duration of 72 hours! Centered around the theme of Champagne, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this … Read more

Grand Champagne Helsinki is around the corner! Bubbles fill the Old Student House on the May weekend 11-13.5 bringing together champagne lovers, gourmands and top names in the industry. The three-day event features experts sharing their know-how, passion and champagnes. In addition to our Finnish talents Essi Avellan MW, Samuil Angelov, Aleksi Mehtonen, Heidi Mäkinen … Read more

Bubbles fill the Old Student House of Helsinki 11th 13th of May bringing together champagne lovers, gourmands and top names in the industry. The three-day event features experts sharing their know-how, passion and champagnes.  ”We are thrilled to welcome star guests of the greatest caliber joining us in our celebration of champagne. Our mission is … Read more

This spring Essi Avellan MW tasted 320 wines crafted by the Champagne’s dynamic, terroir-focused fizz makers to compile this grower Champagne report, where 245 wines made it past the 88-point mark. The thirst for grower Champagne seems inexhaustible right now; the quality is higher and versatility broader than ever. Consequently, we are witnessing unforeseen prices, … Read more

‘An age-defying beauty’ Essi Avellan MW introduces the hotly anticipated Bollinger R.D. 2008, a fitting wine to mark the baton exchange from the late Gilles Descôtes to Bollinger’s incoming chef de cave, Denis Bunner. This week sees the release of the much-awaited Bollinger R.D. 2008, the longer lees-aged version of the house’s celebrated La Grande … Read more

Raimonds Tomsons is ASI Best Sommelier of the World 2023 Essi Avellan MW reports from the ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition in Paris, won before a crowd of 4,000 spectators by Latvia’s Raimonds Tomsons. February saw the ASI Best Sommelier of the World competition return to France after a break of 34 years. … Read more