After a few expert taps with his metal mallet to tighten the hoops, my father carefully rolled the old, blackened barrels into the middle of the courtyard. Leaving the bungs open, he lined up the barrels in the shade of two large walnut trees. The inspection in the cellars had been meticulous.

My father bent over each barrel, his nose plunged into the bung-hole and his hands clasping the sides as if he hoped to sound them better. He breathed into and sniffed them all, ruthlessly eliminating any unfortunate barrel judged to be in poor health. Then I saturated the barrels, until they were half full. The rounded staves shone like my grandfather’s breastplate in the painting on the wall of the drawing room. There was a pleasant scent of autumn and the approaching grape harvest.

The barrels were made of oak from the Argonne forest. These trees came from St Menehould, the birthplace of Dom Perignon, and situated 80kms east of Aÿ. Barrel-making was totally abandonned after 1950, but my father took great care of his stock. For the wines of Champagne to have had such a high reputation even before the advent of the second fermentation, the combination of wine and wood must have been exceptional. Convinced of the significance of this concept, I ordered the construction and authentification of barrels made of Argonne forest oak in the time-honoured tradition. These barrels, stamped AR, are absolutely unique as is the smoothness, elegance and subtle woody aroma they import to the wine.