Bollinger

I opened a bottle of Bolly, on Saturday night. It was a combination of celebrating one of my kids going up a book group and me becoming a "Clean, Lean Warrior".

Having lost half a stone, I thought if I am going to drink anything, I need to drink the best. Bolly is definitely that. When I was working at a famous hotel on Hyde Park Corner, the house Champagne was, and still is Bollinger. The hotel had their name on it, I was told the first time ever, for this Champagne house.


Even better, on my very first day, in my very first hour, while working in the bar, a check came on for a bottle of the stuff. The bar has glass covered tables and cut crystal glasses, it was my first day and I was nervous. I was made even more so, when told to pour the bottle in one hand, with my thumb steadying it, inside the dimple at the bottom.


So much could go wrong and so much could break. When I got to the table, I was concentrating so hard on doing it right, that I didn't clock who it was.
It was only when the guy held out a note, as a tip, that I realised I'd just served Jonny Depp and Kate Moss.
I spent the rest of the day wondering what sort of world I had stumbled into.

So Bollinger always holds happy memories. It has that opulent honey and biscotti biscuit taste. The bubbles are bigger than normal. Maybe it's just me, but it feels luxurious.