hat makes De Venoge's non-vintage champagne (brut sans année) so special is the meticulous care with which it is made. It is a judicious blend of the three champagne grape varieties: 45% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Meunier. The wines in the blend are made solely from the first pressing which yields the best quality juice.

ts bouquet displays scents of flowers, slowly evolving towards more buttery, buiscuity aromas.

This is a well-balanced wine that is best drunk as an aperitif or with uncomplicated first courses.

ordon Bleu Brut can be drunk straight after purchase when it will be light and well-balanced, fresh and lively without any excessive acidity.

ome champagne lovers prefer to cellar it for up to 18 months when it will reveal different aromas. The range of flavours will increase and Cordon Bleu can then be matched with more sophisticated flavours like veal sweetbreads with celery, egg mayonnaise with crab, oysters in seawater aspic...

THE RECIPE

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The following recipe was supplied by Lieven Vercouteren at Le Théâtre restaurant in Epernay.

Crispy Veal Sweetbreads
Crushed tomatoes with a tangy sauce

Serves 4	Sauce
800g veal sweetbreads 600g tomatoes olive oil 2 cloves of garlic 8 sheets of filo pastry 100g melted butter 1 green cabbage	1 dl red wine vinegar 1 dl white wine 3g. crushed black pepper thyme, bay leaves 5 dl veal stock salt and pepper 3 shallots

1)	Blanche the green cabbage in salted water, drain and leave to cool.
2)	a) Clean, soak in cold water for 24 hours then blanche for 10 minutes. Leave to cool then place inside a weighted clean tea-towel for a few hours.
	b) Slice the sweetbreads thinly lengthwise and fry them quickly in butter. Press between sheets of kitchen paper.
3)	a) Core and deseed the tomatoes and chop into small cubes.
	b) Parfumer l’huile d’olive avec les gousses d’ail et faire cuire les tomates
4)	Spread out the sheets of filo pastry and brush with melted butter. Place a layer of cabbage onto the pastry followed by a few fillets of sweetbread and roll up tightly.
5)	Bake at 220°C for 12 minutes.
6)	Spoon some of the tomato onto a plate with one of the rolls cut into three.
7)	Reduce the white wine and the wine vinegar with the pepper and chopped shallots. Add the veal stock and reduce to half. Whisk in the butter and season to flavour.