WINSTON Churchill loved his Pol Roger Champagne. He was such a good and loyal consumer that when he died the Champagne House put a black mourning border around its labels.

But which Champagne did General de Gaulle - Churchill's opposite number in France - prefer?

The answer is Drappier made by a family house not far from the general's home at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises in the Haut Marne region of France.

It is interesting that in the 1930s both Churchill and de Gaulle bought new family homes in highly strategic locations. Churchill's Chartwell is between London and Dover, while de Gaulle choose La Boisserie - on the site of a former brewery - that is midway between Paris and Metz, the HQ of France's Eastern Army.

The Drappiers have been growing grapes in the Aube region since 1604. Michel Drappier, who now heads the enterprise, knows that great wines are made in the vineyards. As a result they are all carefully tended without artificial chemical fertilisers or toxic pesticides.

Equal care in the winery, with ultra-slow cool pressing, absolute minimum use of sulphur, slow cool second fermentation and very special barrel aged liqueurs d'expdition - that are added to the wine before the final cork is driven in, all ensure the creation of beautifully balanced homogenous Champagnes.

With such a source of excellent Champagne on their doorstep its not surprising that the de Gaulle family's cellars were always stocked with Drappier's Extra Dry Cuve, which alas it no longer produces. But on June 18, 1990, on the 50th anniversary of de Gaulle's historic "call to arms", Drappier launched its own Cuve Charles de Gaulle.

Made from a blend of 80 per cent Pinot Noir and 20 per cent Chardonnay, like the General himself, it has a massive structure and a powerful nose dominated by Pinot and - like his memory - an enduring length.

The quality of any Champagne house is set not by its prestige wines, but by their entry-level Brut.

At Drappier this is Carte d'Or, made, depending upon the year, from a blend of 80-90 per cent Pinot Noir, 5 per cent Pinot Meunier and 5-15 per cent Chardonnay that spent four years on its lees in the cellar.

Aromas of sweet briar and peach are followed in the mouth by flavours of peach, apricot and red fruits with the typical Drappier elegant long finish.