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WARM-UPS

1. CHAMPAGNE: Walk around the class and talk to other students about champagne. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

champagne / the coast / Finland / beverages / underwater / storage / long / pressure / experts / journalists / connoisseur / wine cellars / fizz / mushroomy / auctioned

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. WORLD’S OLDEST: Would you like to try? Complete this table and share what you wrote with your partner(s). Change partners and share again.

World’s oldest…	Why might it be good?	Why would(n’) you try it?
champagne
hotel
cure for a cold
chocolate
shampoo
doctor

4. BUBBLY: Students A strongly believe champagne is the best drink to use for celebrations; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. AUCTION: What would you bid for? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best auction at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

champagne antiques paintings cars

diamonds games movie memorabilia clothes

6. FIZZ: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘fizz’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	Champagne was made under the sea 200 years ago.	T / F
b.	There are bottles of 500-year-old champagne rich people can drink.	T / F
c.	The newly-discovered champagne has been improving over time.	T / F
d.	The pressure under the sea matched that in the champagne bottles.	T / F
e.	One hundred people met in Finland to get a taste of the champagne.	T / F
f.	An expert said wines keeps better at the bottom of the sea.	T / F
g.	The champagne was amazingly fizzy, even after two centuries.	T / F
h.	An expert was upset that mushrooms had affected the champagne.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	coast	a.	ageing
2	bubbly	b.	preserved
3.	vintage	c.	specialists
4.	maturing	d.	champers
5.	total	e.	flavour
6.	experts	f.	shore
7.	sip	g.	bubbles
8.	kept	h.	mouthful
9.	fizz	i.	quality
10.	taste	j.	complete

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	under the Baltic Sea off	a.	as much as $135,000
2	the world’s oldest drinkable	b.	centuries maturing
3.	168 bottles of the	c.	sip
4.	It has spent the past two	d.	bubbly
5.	the water pressure is similar	e.	tasting event
6.	gathered at a special champagne-	f.	the coast of Finland
7.	get a	g.	the finest wine cellars
8.	better kept than in	h.	its fizz
9.	the bubbly had lost	i.	vintage beverage
10.	auctioned for	j.	to what's inside

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

The world’s oldest champagne has been ____________ under the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. In ____________, at 200 years old, it is actually the world’s oldest drinkable bubbly. Deep-sea divers came across 168 bottles of the ____________ beverage during an underwater exploration. Experts believe the champagne was on its way to the royal family in Russia when the boat carrying it ____________. It has spent the past two centuries maturing. The ancient bottles were from the famous Veuve Cliquot ____________. A company spokesperson explained why they ____________ so long, saying: "The reason is the Baltic Sea offers perfect storage conditions. There is ____________ darkness, and the water pressure is similar to what's ____________ the bottle.”		lasted inside vintage winery found sank total truth
One hundred ____________ and journalists gathered at a special champagne-tasting ____________ in Mariehamn, Finland to get a ____________ of the famous sparkling wine. Swedish wine connoisseur Richard Juhlin was the first to taste it. He told reporters: "Bottles kept at the bottom of the sea are better ____________ than in the finest wine cellars.” Mr Juhlin added that after 200 years, the bubbly had lost its ____________ but not its flavour. He described the taste as "more intense and ____________, mushroomy…with lime peels". Veuve Cliquot winemaker Francois Hautekeur described the importance of the event: “It was the best moment in my professional ____________, maybe my life,” he said. The champers will be ____________ for as much as $135,000 per bottle.		kept career event auctioned experts fizz sip powerful

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

The world’s oldest champagne ______________________ the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. In truth, at 200 years old, it is actually the world’s ______________________. Deep-sea divers came across 168 bottles of the vintage beverage during an underwater exploration. Experts believe the champagne ______________________ the royal family in Russia when the boat carrying it sank. It has spent the past two centuries maturing. The ancient bottles were from the famous Veuve Cliquot winery. A company spokesperson explained ______________________, saying: "The reason is the Baltic Sea offers ______________________. There is total darkness, and the ______________________ to what's inside the bottle.”

One hundred experts and journalists ______________________ champagne-tasting event in Mariehamn, Finland ______________________ famous sparkling wine. Swedish wine connoisseur Richard Juhlin was the first to taste it. He told reporters: "Bottles ______________________ the sea are better kept than in the finest wine cellars.” Mr Juhlin added that after 200 years, the bubbly had lost its ______________________. He described the taste as "more intense and ______________________ lime peels". Veuve Cliquot winemaker Francois Hautekeur described the importance of the event: “It was the best moment in my professional career, maybe my life,” he said. The champers will be ______________________ $135,000 per bottle.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘fine’ and ‘wine’.

fine

wine

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

coast across believe past reason inside

special sip kept fizz powerful per

STUDENT CHAMPAGNE AND WINE SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about champagne and wine in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

CHAMPAGNE AND WINE DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘champagne’?
c)	What do you know about champagne?
d)	Why do so many people use champagne to celebrate?
e)	Would you like to taste some of the 200-year-old champagne?
f)	Should the bottles go to living relatives of the family they were being sent to?
g)	Would you rather drink a newish bottle of champers of one of these old ones?
h)	What other things do you know of that mature with age?
i)	How happy do you think the winery is about this discovery?
j)	When do people drink champagne in your country?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What’s the difference between champagne and wine?
c)	Why is champagne so expensive?
d)	Would you like to have been at the tasting event in Finland?
e)	What do you think wine tasters talk about all day?
f)	Would you like to work as a professional wine taster?
g)	What’s the point of drinking champagne that has lost its fizz?
h)	Does a mushroomy beverage sound yummy to you?
i)	Why would people pay $135,000 for a bottle of fizz-less champagne?
j)	What questions would you like to ask Veuve Cliquot winemaker Francois Hautekeur?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

The world’s oldest champagne has been found under the Baltic Sea (1) ____ the coast of Finland. In (2) ____, at 200 years old, it is actually the world’s oldest drinkable bubbly. Deep-sea divers came across 168 bottles of the (3) ____ beverage during an underwater exploration. Experts believe the champagne was on its way to the royal family in Russia when the boat carrying it (4) ____. It has spent the past two centuries maturing. The ancient bottles were from the famous Veuve Cliquot winery. A company spokesperson explained why they (5) ____ so long, saying: "The reason is the Baltic Sea offers perfect storage conditions. There is total darkness, and the water (6) ____ is similar to what's inside the bottle.”

One hundred experts and journalists gathered at a special champagne-tasting event in Mariehamn, Finland to get a (7) ____ of the famous sparkling wine. Swedish wine connoisseur Richard Juhlin was the first to taste it. He told reporters: "Bottles (8) ____ at the bottom of the sea are better kept than in the finest wine cellars.” Mr Juhlin added that after 200 years, the bubbly had lost its (9) ____ but not its flavour. He described the taste (10) ____ "more intense and powerful, mushroomy…with lime peels". Veuve Cliquot winemaker Francois Hautekeur described the (11) ____ of the event: “It was the best moment in my professional career, maybe my life,” he said. The champers will be auctioned for as much as $135,000 (12) ____ bottle.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	in	(b)	under	(c)	at	(d)	off
2.	(a)	true	(b)	truth	(c)	truly	(d)	truths
3.	(a)	vintage	(b)	vantage	(c)	advantage	(d)	advantaged
4.	(a)	sunk	(b)	sought	(c)	shrank	(d)	sank
5.	(a)	lifted	(b)	listed	(c)	lasted	(d)	lofted
6.	(a)	pressures	(b)	pressure	(c)	pressurize	(d)	pressured
7.	(a)	sip	(b)	lip	(c)	tip	(d)	dip
8.	(a)	keep	(b)	keeping	(c)	keeper	(d)	kept
9.	(a)	fizzed	(b)	fizz	(c)	fizzes	(d)	fizzy
10.	(a)	has	(b)	is	(c)	were	(d)	as
11.	(a)	impotence	(b)	importantly	(c)	importance	(d)	imports
12.	(a)	per	(b)	par	(c)	purr	(d)	por

WRITING

Write about champagne and wine for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about champagne and wine. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. CHAMPAGNE AND WINE: Make a poster about champagne and wine. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. BUBBLY: Write a magazine article about the 200-year-old bubble. Include imaginary interviews with people who found it and bought it at auction.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to the owners of Veuve Cliquot. Ask them three questions about champagne and wine. Give them three of your opinions on what should happen to the 200-year-old bubbly. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

T

f.

T

g.

F

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	coast	a.	shore
2	bubbly	b.	champers
3.	vintage	c.	quality
4.	maturing	d.	ageing
5.	total	e.	complete
6.	experts	f.	specialists
7.	sip	g.	mouthful
8.	kept	h.	preserved
9.	fizz	i.	bubbles
10.	taste	j.	flavour

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	under the Baltic Sea off	a.	the coast of Finland
2	the world’s oldest drinkable	b.	bubbly
3.	168 bottles of the	c.	vintage beverage
4.	It has spent the past two	d.	centuries maturing
5.	the water pressure is similar	e.	to what's inside
6.	gathered at a special champagne-	f.	tasting event
7.	get a	g.	sip
8.	better kept than in	h.	the finest wine cellars
9.	the bubbly had lost	i.	its fizz
10.	auctioned for	j.	as much as $135,000

GAP FILL:

200-year-old deep-sea champagne found

The world’s oldest champagne has been found under the Baltic Sea off the coast of Finland. In truth, at 200 years old, it is actually the world’s oldest drinkable bubbly. Deep-sea divers came across 168 bottles of the vintage beverage during an underwater exploration. Experts believe the champagne was on its way to the royal family in Russia when the boat carrying it sank. It has spent the past two centuries maturing. The ancient bottles were from the famous Veuve Cliquot winery. A company spokesperson explained why they lasted so long, saying: "The reason is the Baltic Sea offers perfect storage conditions. There is total darkness, and the water pressure is similar to what's inside the bottle.”

One hundred experts and journalists gathered at a special champagne-tasting event in Mariehamn, Finland to get a sip of the famous sparkling wine. Swedish wine connoisseur Richard Juhlin was the first to taste it. He told reporters: "Bottles kept at the bottom of the sea are better kept than in the finest wine cellars.” Mr Juhlin added that after 200 years, the bubbly had lost its fizz but not its flavour. He described the taste as "more intense and powerful, mushroomy…with lime peels". Veuve Cliquot winemaker Francois Hautekeur described the importance of the event: “It was the best moment in my professional career, maybe my life,” he said. The champers will be auctioned for as much as $135,000 per bottle.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - b

3 - a

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - a

8 - d

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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