Every Friday TheChampagneSommelier will ask 5 questions about 5 coeur de bouteilles to friends and Champagne lovers from near and far. This week we met up with Santa Rubena – a sommelière & an importer specializing in grower champagnes – based in Berlin.
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BIO
SANTA RUBENA
I am growerchampagne importer and ambassador in Germany, as well certified sommelier and champagne expert. I started as a wine blogger and couple of years ago founded my own business lifeinbubble.de. Today I represent some of the best champagne winemakers and among my costumers are numerous Michelin starred restaurants, best bars, as well the fine wine merchants.
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Which Champagne would You treat your parents or in-laws?
My parents live quite far from me – deep down in the Latvian woods, close to the Russian border. I would usually visit them in the summer months taking a box of various lovely growerchampagnes along. We would often have refreshing Huré Frères ‘Invitation’ or Trousset-Guillemart ‘Brut Nature’ as aperitif and would follow with Vilmart’s ‘Coeur de Cuvee’ 2011 paired with wild game dishes. My mother in-law always enjoys Pierre Péters champagnes.
Which Champagne would you treat your lover?
My husband’s favorite wine is Savart’s ‘Les Noues’. It’s a big style champagne with electric, sexy energy. But to surprise him we would share one of my favorites – La Closerie ‘LC11’ en Magnum while sitting on the Sylt beach watching the sunset.. As we all know: happy wife – happy life!
Which Champagne would You treat your boss?
I am my own boss and I like precision on the one hand and natural flow of things on the other. I highly appreciate young, passionate winemaker generation in Champagne. So, I would open a bottle of biodynamic Aurore Casanova ‘Divine Puisieulx Grand Cru’ from her latest collection to share with my beloved clients – best sommeliers in Germany.
Which Champagne would You treat yourself?
I am waiting for the moment when Alexandré Chartogne will release his brand-new cuvee ‘Grands Champs’. I tasted it recently at the Domaine (in Zero Dosage) and fell in love immediately. Meanwhile I’d be sipping beauties from mega vintage 2008!
Which Champagne would You treat a dream guest, and why?
My dream guest would be Princess Grace Kelly – one of my women icons and an example of elegance. I always wanted to be an actress myself but chose a different path. I’d love to hear her experience, thoughts about feminism and the world today. We would listen Simply Red “Stars” and open champagnes she never tasted – fabulous Pierre Gerbais ‘L’Originale’ or Etienne Calsac ‘Les Revenants’ from rare heritage grape varieties, and incredible wines from Adrien Dhondt and Guillaume Selosse. That would be a great day in my life!
Read more in the series ‘5 bottles & 5 questions’