Every Friday TheChampagneSommelier will ask 5 questions about 5 coeur de bouteilles to friends and Champagne lovers from near and far. This Week we took a bubbly chat with German Champagne lover Daniel Ludes aka Perlage à Trois. Merci Daniel !
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
BIO
Perlage à Trois
Sarah and Daniel Ludes are champagne enthusiasts from Hamburg with family roots in the Premier Cru Ludes (Montagne de Reims). They are connoisseurs and passionate hosts. On their blog www.perlageatrois.com and on Instagram @perlageatrois they present champagne houses, growers, wines and matching dishes including recipe to create unforgettable moments.
Which Champagne would You treat your parents or in-laws?
‘As the passionate hosts we want to be, we like to adapt to the tastes of our guests. For our parents, this means no less than Brut. The champagne must have some sugar. A nicely aged Comte de Champagne Blanc de Blancs from 1995 or 1996 would be our choice for this occasion. ‘
Which Champagne would You treat your lover?
‘With lovers it is like with a good champagne: we take our time. A lot of time. And we immediately think of a Champagne that is good to take your time with, that takes air well, and that develops wonderfully and comes into its own not only in the minutes in the glass, but also over days: a Cuvée 742 Extra Brut from Jaquesson. And so that we can take even more time: a magnum, of course.’
Which Champagne would You treat your boss?
If one of our guests is not yet a champagne connoisseur, we prefer to serve something familiar. Nothing is sadder than watching someone carelessly down a treasure they don’t know as if it were any wine. But it would also be wrong to simply put a bottle of Moët Imperial on the table. Even in the known there is finally the special. So we choose a Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2012, designed by Yahoo Kusama.
Which Champagne would You treat yourself?
‘In summer, we prefer fresh, fruity champagnes, such as a 2008 Paul Bara Spécial Club, a Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru Bouzy on the eastern flank of the Montagne de Reims. The wine is aged in steel and without malolactic fermentation, so the wine has a wonderful freshness.
In winter, we love old, aged wine. Preferably from old vines and likes to be aged in wood to become a bit creamier. A cuvée of Caudalies Grand Cur 2006 from De Sousa in Avize is wonderful for this. The house produces organic and biodynamic wines from vines up to 60 years old and ages them in wood.’
Which Champagne would You treat a dream guest, and why?
‘Our ancestors made their way to Germany in the 17th century during the time of the Huguenot expulsion from the small Premier Cru Ludes on the north side of the Montage de Reims, giving us our last name. It would be a dream to meet these ancestors and learn about their lives and the hard times they had to endure. We would serve a bottle of Mémoire from Huré Frères of Ludes. A special bottle, it consists exclusively of reserve wine aged in a wooden barrel, which is replenished year after year according to a solera process. The Solera has its origin in 1982, the year of my (Daniel’s) birth.’
[ what piece of music would you listen to drinking wine with Your dream guest ?]
‘To make our 17th century guests feel comfortable we would choose something contemporary. Bach, Vivaldi or Handel would be possible. ‘
