This year, Grand Champagne celebrates its 10th anniversary. How is it possible that a Finnish champagne event is already a concept in France?
In a couple of weeks in Finland, something is done again, which is not possible anywhere else in the world. Cellar masters, farmers and entrepreneurs in champagne houses arrive in Helsinki and are friends with each other for three days.
People meet people. It was the core of the Grand Champangne event 10 years ago -and is still bright at the center.
Obviously, the idea was that they wanted to get people from Champagne. There were six of them in the first year, 88 last year.
It has been possible for ten years at the Old Student House of Helsinki to meet top cellar masters that you can’t talk to, even if you travel to Champagne.
At a champagne event, you can buy a 4 centimeter fall, the price of which depends on the bottle. This year, prices are from four euros to € 79. The idea is to get different drinks. Grand Champagne
At the old student house, champagne drinkers meet drink manufacturers and manufacturers meet consumers. Over the years, Grand Champagne has become a meeting place for different people around the champagne.
This year, more champagne will be popped into the Grand Champagne 10th anniversary than any other year.
– We have the most beautiful table setting ever. There are 80 champagne houses and more than 400 champagne in glass to enjoy. There is no place in anywhere else in the world where you can get a large set of champagne in a glass, says Grand Champagne’s power trio Essi Avellan, Taru from and Christian from.
Tulip -shaped glass is the best for champagne bubbles and aromas. Grand Champagne
Just over ten years ago, Avellan and Fromit stated that if they want an ambitious and high -quality champagne event in Finland, it should be done by themselves. They did not want a sales fair, but an event that is open to everyone and where people learn from champagne and can taste the drink at a reasonable price.
Goals have been achieved as Finnish champagne knowledge has grown tremendously over the last ten years. More and more people enjoy the tulip of their bubble drink, not the flute. Likewise, more and more people understand that champagne is more than just a tilting drink, it is also suitable for the dining table. People’s awareness of different grapes and champagne styles has also increased.
Master class tastings have less than 2,000 seats every year. Many people visit several tastings, the record is eleven. Grand Champagne
Grand Champagne gathers visitors all over Finland, but also around the world.
– We have an increased share of international guests every year. Last year there were guests from over 30 countries and all continents. Foreigners, in particular, appreciate the fact that champagne houses are here. Guests can meet the stars of the basements on the stands or talk to them with Master class lectures, says Taru from.
He states that for the French, part of the charm of the event is that everyone in Finland is attentively treated. Nobody wakes up.
There is a low hierarchy in Finland, so anyone can talk to anyone. The tops of Dom Perignon and other tops are standing in the hall chatting with visitors to the fair.
– And they enjoy it. It’s a very special opportunity for them. In Finland, social interaction is so immediate, Avellan says.
Taru From remembers how a basement master came in front of the door by black and escorted by the security guards. On the second day, he had relaxed and commented that he was on vacation.
At the event, the time of opening rare bottles is scheduled. Essi Avellan always states that it has hated that some are poured from a special bottle under the table. An ordinary person should never taste rarities. In Grand Champagne Helsinki, everyone can taste if they are close to the bottle to be opened at the right time and pay the payment. Avellan has not seen similar in other events. Grand Champagne
– Part of the event’s atmosphere comes from the Finnish value base. It’s hard to think about how this would fit anywhere else because our culture is just here. This is not possible as in Finland. We also get a lot of good feedback from our audience. There are a lot of young visitors and there are many women. Everyone is enthusiastic about champagne and want to enjoy it, says Taru from.
In the first year, the organizers received comments from the French that it is great, people will ask smart questions. They were impressed by the Finns’ desire to learn. Nowadays, they are no longer surprised by it.
– We are an engineering folk. Although there were not so many foreign visitors in the early years, Master Class tastings were always sold out, says Taru from.
This year, 15 basement masters are coming to the old. In the first year, they came because Essi Avellan asked, but now they are already booked in time. Christian From rejoices that the masters see the value at the event. They do not send their assistant cellar masters, but arrive themselves.
When Lanson’s basement master was for the first time in the old one, he almost tears when he had been moving all day. He had realized that in the Grand Champagne, the French represented champagne as a community. There they don’t compete with each other.
The ballroom has wanted to remove everything in the wake, no one is allowed to bring promotional materials or props at their champagne house, everyone has the same size tables, glasses and cloths by the organizers.
The atmosphere of the old student house is warm. Grand Champagne
Wine houses only need to make sure that people and champagne are present.
In Helsinki, people in champagne houses can taste each other’s drinks.
– Of course, in the restaurant, they do not order each other’s bottles, but always. And they can’t be terribly brothers in Champagne, because they would immediately start gossip. Here we can safely taste competitors’ champagne, Avellan knows.
Fromit and Avellan emphasize that it is worthwhile to come to a champagne event, even if you never have drunk champagne or know nothing about it.
– It’s enough to be interested. What could be a better place for a beginner to get to know the champagne? Avellan casts a rhetorical question.
Grand Champagne at the Old Student House of Helsinki 24-26.4.2025.