This notice explains what cookies The Champagne Companion uses, why, and how you can manage them. We currently set no first-party cookies, and we do not use advertising, tracking, or analytics cookies.
1. What Is a Cookie?
A cookie is a small text file placed on your device when you visit a website. Cookies allow a site to recognise your device between page visits. They are not programs and cannot carry viruses or access other information on your device.
2. Cookies We Use
We currently do not set any first-party cookies. The Champagne Companion has no visitor accounts, logins, or other cookie-based functionality at this time. The only cookie associated with this site is a technical cookie set by Cloudflare, our hosting and security provider — see Section 3.
In addition to the above, the site temporarily stores a small amount of information in your browser's session storage — for example, to remember which prompts you've already been shown by the "Ask the Sommelier" feature, and to lightly tailor which prompt appears based on the pages you've viewed during your visit. This is not a cookie. It is never transmitted to us or to any third party, cannot be used to identify you, and is automatically and permanently deleted the moment you close your browser tab.
3. Cloudflare
Our website is served through Cloudflare for security and performance. Cloudflare may set its own technical cookies (such as __cf_bm) to distinguish human visitors from automated bots. These are strictly necessary for security purposes and are governed by Cloudflare's own Privacy Policy.
4. Managing Cookies
Because we do not currently set any first-party cookies, there is nothing for you to manage on our end, and no consent banner is required under GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive.
You can still manage Cloudflare's technical cookie at any time through your browser settings. For guidance on managing cookies in your browser:
5. Future Changes
If we introduce analytics tools or other services that require additional cookies in the future, we will update this notice and present you with an appropriate consent mechanism before placing any non-essential cookies on your device.
6. Contact
If you have any questions about how we use cookies, please contact us at shaun@thechampagnecompanion.com.
For broader questions about how we handle your personal data, please see our Privacy Policy.