It has been four years since we started to handle PR for Nicolas Feuillatte, the most popular champagne brand in France. We have been involved in various activities to spread the new champagne culture created by Nicolas Feuillatte in Japan, where people enjoy champagne not only on special occasions, but also in their daily lives when they want to indulge in a little luxury.
At the end of October this year, Mr. Guillaume Roffiaen, Chief Vintner, visited Japan for the first time in 4 years to plan and direct various activities for sommeliers, media, and customers in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya to promote understanding of Nicolas Feuillatte.
For the media, we conducted individual interviews limited to 3 media and lunch tasting limited to 5 media, and we selected the target media, approached them, and facilitated the event. The guests tasted a wide variety of Champagnes, from the flagship Champagne “Reserve Exclusive Brut,” which symbolizes the Nicolas Feuillatte style, to the 2008 vintage Champagne “Palmes d’Or”. The guests deepened their understanding of the secret of our rapid growth and the reason why we are able to produce a wide variety of Champagnes.
In Tokyo and Osaka, we held tasting seminars in cooperation with the Japan Sommelier Association. Our company was in charge of selecting the venues and preparing the presentations and related materials. We also introduced pepper pairings, which Nicolas Feuillatte has been doing to improve the knowledge and skills of its producers, and we offered a total of 6 different Nicolas Feuillatte Champagnes paired with 3 different types of pepper.
In addition, a special one-night-only full-course dinner was held for VIP clients at the famous French restaurant “SUD Restaurant / TERAKOYA”. The restaurant was selected by Mr. Takanori Nakamura, the chairman of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Japan Council, and Chef Hazama served a special one-night-only full-course dinner paired with five different types of Nicolas Feuillatte champagnes. From appetizers to desserts, the beautiful dishes were like works of art, assembled with creative ingredients and delicate techniques.
In addition, tasting seminars were held in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya for wine school students to learn more about Nicolas Feuillatte. We asked Ms. Rie Matsuki, a sommelier who was in charge of explaining Champagne at the media event held at the end of last year and who also visited our head office in France this summer, to give a detailed introduction of Nicolas Feuillatte, from its history to its production method. Students commented, “Ms. Matsuki’s tasting comments were very easy to understand. I didn’t know that Nicolas Feuillatte produces so many kinds of Champagnes. It was delicious so I will purchase some in the future.”.