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Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons has been included in Hardie Grant’s 2026 UK Autumn catalogue, marking an exciting new chapter for the book as it reaches readers in the UK and Europe.
The book was written in Australia, but its story has always taken me back to France: to the vineyards and villages of Champagne, to French food and hospitality, and to the pleasure of bringing people together around a table. Seeing it now presented to a UK audience by Hardie Grant feels like a natural progression for a book that has always looked beyond the wine itself to the place, the food, the culture and the rituals surrounding it.
The inclusion in the UK Autumn catalogue opens the book to a wider audience at a particularly interesting time. Champagne already has such a strong place within British culture, from Christmas and New Year celebrations to long lunches, dinners and entertaining, and the catalogue positions the book for the modern UK wine drinker, with an emphasis on making Champagne accessible without relying on technical jargon.
For me, that is an important part of what Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons is about. Champagne has an extraordinary depth of history, geography and tradition, but enjoying it does not need to begin with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the region. It might begin with a meal, a particular bottle, a map, a recipe or simply a curiosity about where the wine in your glass has come from.
The idea behind Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons is that champagne should not be reserved for the grandest occasions. Its character changes with the seasons and with the food alongside it, and the book explores those connections through 40 French-inspired seasonal recipes and Champagne pairings.
French-inspired seasonal recipes and Champagne pairings from Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons.
Organised around spring, summer, autumn and winter, the book takes the reader into different parts of the Champagne region and explores the styles of wine associated with them. Original maps, photography and historical insights bring the landscape into the story, while the recipes and menus bring champagne back to the table.
The Champagne region explored through original maps created for Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons.
This was important to me when I was writing the book. I wanted the reader to understand something about Champagne without feeling that they were being given a lesson in wine. The history and geography are there because they make the wine more interesting; the food is there because champagne is at its best when it is enjoyed with other people; and the entertaining and table styling are there because the setting around the bottle is part of the experience.
Hardie Grant’s UK catalogue positions Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons for the modern UK wine drinker, while the Hardie Grant’s book page describes the book as bringing together seasonal recipes and champagne pairings with the history, geography and production of the region, alongside maps, photography and ideas for entertaining.
There is a natural connection between Champagne and Christmas, and Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons lends itself particularly well to the festive season. It has the sense of occasion associated with champagne, but unlike a bottle that is opened and enjoyed in the moment, the book remains long after the celebrations have finished. It can be returned to throughout the year, whether for a recipe, a champagne pairing, inspiration for entertaining or simply to revisit the landscapes and stories of the region.
This is part of what makes it such a thoughtful gift for someone who loves Champagne. It brings together many of the pleasures associated with it: French food, travel, entertaining, beautiful tables and an appreciation of the wine itself, without being solely a technical wine book. The recipes invite the reader into the kitchen, while the maps, photography and stories offer a journey into the landscape, history and culture that have shaped Champagne.
For Christmas in particular, it offers something that feels both generous and lasting. It is a book to open over the festive season, perhaps with a glass of champagne alongside it, and then to return to when the Christmas decorations have been packed away and another season begins.
Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons, a festive gift for Champagne lovers
Having Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons included in Hardie Grant’s 2026 UK catalogue is a significant step for the book. Written and published in Australia, it is now being introduced to readers in the UK and Europe, markets with their own long and enduring connections to Champagne, French food and the pleasures of entertaining.
The Champagne region has been central to the story of this book from the beginning. Much of Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons grew from my own fascination with its villages and vineyards, its history and traditions, and the way champagne has become so closely associated with food, hospitality and celebration. Seeing the book now presented to a UK audience through an established British publisher is a significant moment in its journey.
The UK and European market also feels like a particularly natural home for the book because its appeal extends beyond wine itself. Someone who loves France, French cooking, entertaining, travel or beautiful books may find just as much to enjoy in its pages as the dedicated Champagne enthusiast.
That wider appeal is important at Christmas, when a book can become part of the experience of giving and receiving rather than simply another item to be consumed. Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons is substantial enough to have a presence on the coffee table, but practical enough to find its way into the kitchen when there is a menu to plan or a bottle to choose.
The book has also received independent editorial attention, including a feature in Halliday Wine Companion, which explores the thinking behind Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons, its seasonal approach, 40 French-inspired recipes and champagne pairings, and the idea of champagne as a wine to enjoy throughout a meal rather than only on special occasions.
That combination is at the heart of the book. Champagne is the thread that runs through it, but the story is much larger: it is about the places where champagne is made, the food that accompanies it, the traditions that surround it and the pleasure of entertaining well.
Perhaps that is why it feels particularly appropriate for the festive season. A bottle of champagne may be opened on Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve, but a book about Champagne can take you much further. It can lead you to a particular village, a recipe you have not tried, a style of champagne you have yet to discover, or perhaps even a future journey to the region itself.
For readers in the UK and Europe, Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons is now available through selected booksellers, with the UK edition published by Hardie Grant on 2 July 2026 as a 352-page hardcover.
Signed and gift-wrapped Australian copies are also available directly from sallyhillman.com.au, with international readers able to purchase through selected booksellers and online retailers.
For Christmas gifting, Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons offers something beyond another bottle of champagne. It is a book for the Champagne enthusiast, the Francophile, the home entertainer and the food lover, bringing together recipes, Champagne, French culture, history, maps and the pleasures of the table in one beautifully produced volume.
It is a gift to enjoy over the festive season and to return to throughout the year.
À votre santé. 🥂
Sally Hillman at the Christmas table
Celebrating Champagne: A Wine For All Seasons is available through booksellers in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands.
Australia
Signed and beautifully gift-wrapped copies are available directly from sallyhillman.com.au with the option to include a personal inscription and greeting card.
United Kingdom
Available through Hatchards, Waterstones and Amazon UK.
United States
Available through Barnes & Noble, Rizzoli Bookstore New York and Amazon.
Canada
Available through !ndigo and McNally Robinson.
The Netherlands
Available through Donner Bookstore.
International
For readers elsewhere, international ordering is available through selected booksellers.
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