A colleague of mine recently uncovered a small, badly eroded, lead seal while sieving soil on a job recently. It is marked with a star and the words 'Moet & Chandon'. It is evidently a seal cramped on the wire that ties down the cork on a champagne bottle from this famous winery. Now while I have champagne tastes on a beer income, French champagnes of this quality are outside my experience. We have done searches on the Internet but have not been able to find any reference to these seals. The question is - are these seals datable and are they related to any particular marquee or vintage? If anyone feels the necessity for field research on this, we will welcome your tasting notes but the firm and the client will not be held responsible for the costs :)

John