“I have pressed many grapes… but I have NEVER pressed a duck!” 

So went the words of Charles Philipponnat as he was whisked upstairs by Otto, owner and Maitre d’ of his eponymous restaurant on Gray’s Inn Road. “A duck yields a surprising amount of juice!” Charles exclaimed on his return to the table, having been pressed, quite literally into action, helping to operate the silver duck press that Otto uses to serve his legendary Canard a la Presse.

We were in the Private Dining room at Otto’s, a gem of a place, to celebrate 40 years of Clos des Goisses with a group of champagne aficionados. This was the very night after we’d released the epic 2008 on the roof-top of the Ham Yard Hotel, so Clos des Goisses was very much in the air. Other than exploring the famous longevity of Clos des Goisses and its incredible ability to enhance a meal, the rough theme of the evening was ‘8s (for obvious reasons), the oldest wine providing us a rare look at some magical bottles of 1978.