Peter Liem, Daniel Johnnes & Laurent Champs: On La Fête du Champagne 2026 | Part 1

For years, Champagne's great houses and its small growers didn't share a room. La Fête du Champagne changed that. Co-founders Peter Liem and Daniel Johnnes, and Laurent Champs of Vilmart & Cie, take you inside the festival before it returns to New York City, October 14 to 17.

Peter and Daniel share how La Fête began over dinner, the Burgundy tradition of La Paulée that inspired it, the first year Olivier Krug and Raphaël Bérêche found themselves in the same room, and how 35 producers are chosen from a list of 150. Laurent Champs tells the story of his father, a carpenter who bought an oak cask in 1970 when everyone else wanted steel, explains how Vilmart blocks malolactic fermentation, and remembers tasting two 1988 magnums 12 seconds apart.

Peter Liem is the James Beard Award-winning author of Champagne and the writer behind ChampagneGuide.net. Daniel Johnnes founded La Paulée in the United States and is Wine Director for Daniel Boulud's Dinex Group. Vilmart & Cie was founded in 1890 in Rilly-la-Montagne. The Wine Centric Show is a proud media partner of La Fête du Champagne.

Grab your Tickets here: https://bit.ly/4rxU9mZ

Mentioned: Olivier Krug and Krug, Raphaël Bérêche and Bérêche & Fils, Louis Roederer, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Pérignon, Chartogne-Taillet and Alexandre Chartogne, Pierre Péters and Rodolphe Péters, Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill, Aquavit, Daniel Boulud and DANIEL, Arnaud Lallement, A. Bergère, Eric Rodez, Comte Jules Lafon and La Paulée de Meursault, Dominique Lafon, Jay McInerney, Terry Theise, René Champs, Thomas Champs, Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or, Cœur de Cuvée, Krug Vintage 1988.

The Wine Centric Show is presented by InVintory. InVintory scans a wine label, pulls up the bottle's details and shows you where it sits in your cellar in 3D. Code WINECENTRIC takes 25% off one year of InVintory Premium at invintory.com.

GLASVIN

Glasvin is The Preferred Glass of The Wine Centric Show. Use code WINECENTRIC for 10% off: https://tidd.ly/41vgdSQ

FEARRINGTON HOUSE

Fearrington House is the location and hospitality partner of The Wine Centric Show. Fearrington House / Fearrington Eats

La Fête du Champagne: lafeteduchampagne.com

Instagram: @lafetenyc