Veuve Clicquot & the Après-Mezzanine: On Drinking Well at Altitude, and Why the Altitude Helps

The science is as follows: at altitude, atmospheric pressure decreases, carbon dioxide escapes from solution more readily, and the bubbles in a glass of champagne are approximately 30% more vigorous than at sea level. Whether this accounts for what happens on the Après-Mezzanine after a particularly good powder day is a matter the Society's physicians prefer not to be drawn into.

The Veuve Clicquot relationship began, as most relationships in the Society's history have begun, with someone knowing someone. In this case, a founding member with connections to the house arranged a standing allocation during the 1998 season, on the condition that it be served correctly and not used as a prop in photographs. The second condition has been honoured imperfectly. The first, always.

Colder than you'd serve it in a city, not as cold as you'd keep it in the van.

Serving champagne correctly at 2,800 metres requires a temperature management protocol that the Cellar Director — a title held, at current writing, by a woman who skis better than anyone discusses — will explain at length to those who ask and refuse to abbreviate for those who don't. The short version: colder than you'd serve it in a city, not as cold as you'd keep it in the van. The long version takes approximately forty minutes and involves a diagram.

The Mezzanine terrace, from which the valley drops away to the southeast and the light in late afternoon turns everything to copper, seats twenty-two people at the formal tables and rather more if one is relaxed about the balustrade. Both configurations have their adherents. The Society takes no official position.

A note on etiquette: the Mezzanine has, over several decades, developed customs of its own. These are not written down. They include: facing the view before speaking, not discussing the morning's skiing unless directly asked, and understanding that the second glass is always poured before the first is finished. The third glass is one's own business.

The Veuve Clicquot is not the most expensive champagne the cellar stocks. It is, however, the one that has been here the longest, and at the Society, that counts for considerably more.