 |
15th to 19th July 2007Champagne Odyssey Tour (by David Rowe)Prologue The heart of the Champagne region is about 145 kilometres to the north east of Paris, centred on the cathedral city of Reims and wine town of Epernay. Our tour was based in Epernay, right at the heart of the vineyards and an ideal location from which to discover the region. Our driving routes were arranged around the three principle wine growing areas (Montagne de Reims, Vallee de la Marne and Cote des Blancs) with pre-arranged visits to Champagne producers whose wines typify the style of that region.
The Odyssey Begins It was not the most auspicious start to an XKEC summer tour; huddled under our umbrellas at Maidstone services supping lattes on a cold, wet and windy July day. Our early morning rendezvous was cheered by the arrival of Gordon Down from Lancaster Sidcup, one of our tour sponsors. Gordon was determined to give us a good send off and, clearly aware that driving can be thirsty work, duly issued a bottle of Champagne to each of us. Thanks Gordon and Lancaster. Many of the group were veterans from the France tour in 2005 and there was quite a reunion at the Eurotunnel terminal. Goodie bags were issued and we got changed into our tour t-shirts. Many thanks to Reshma Patel and Stratstone of Mayfair for agreeing to provide this year’s must-have XKEC fashion item. With the rain beating down on the terminal roof, enthusiastic reassurances over coffee that it really would be over 30 degrees in Champagne seemed wildly optimistic. The 300km drive down to Epernay was uneventful and we passed the journey on the A26 playing the tour trivia quiz. Who would have though that someone would write a song called “Jaguar Man” and that Chuck Berry had recorded a ditty called “Jaguar and Thunderbird”! Things got really interesting when we reached the hotel in Epernay and its narrow gated entrance on the Avenue de Champagne. There was plenty of Gallic horn honking as the traffic began to back up down the main street. EVERYONE in Epernay now knew that the Jaguars were in town!
Finding our Champagne Legs The first rule of Champagne is that there’s never a bad time to drink it! So, not wishing to waste any time we walked next door to Champagne Mercier for our first visit where we were greeted by Emmanuel Mercier (a descendent of the founder Eugene Mercier). With its comprehensive visitor centre with audio-visual displays, Mercier is an excellent place to find your Champagne legs. A lift and electric train transport you through 18km of cellars where 15 million bottles of Champagne are stored (enough to reach Tokyo from Epernay if placed end to end). As a publicity stunt Eugene Mercier once arranged a car rally inside the cellars and amazingly, not a bottle was broken! An offer by the Club to re-enact this great spectacle was politely declined by our hosts! The still wine from which Champagne is made is produced in a similar way to most other white wine. Our Mercier visit helped us to understand the main steps of the Methode Champenoise, the process that puts bubbles into the still wine. Many credit Dom Pérignon with discovering how to make wine sparkle. This is, of course, absolute nonsense as it was an Englishman, Christopher Merret, who discovered the process!
Before heading into Epernay for dinner we were served a Champagne aperitif by the hotel and set about finding a winner for our Tour Trivia Quiz. Mike Campbell took the top prize, showing a comprehensive knowledge of subjects ranging from the Eurovision song contest to HM Customs and Excise regulations. Day 1 Pinot Meunier, Picnics and Paddleboats Our first drive took us along the Vallee de la Marne, home of the Pinot Meunier grape. This black grape with white juice makes up one third of Champagne’s planting. The vines grow in abundance along both sides of the river Marne. Our first stop was at Hautvillers, home to Dom Perignon who was winemaker at the Abbey. From Hautvillers we meandered down the Marne, passing through the wine villages of Cumieres and Damery and onto Chatillon sur Marne were we had an appointment with Pope Urban II. He was born there in 1042 and was responsible for initiating the first Crusades. A statue was erected to his memory and the Club was given special permission to park at its base.
With people starting to get thirsty we headed from Chatillon to our first tasting in Le Breuil at Champagne Moutardier. The Moutardier family have been growing grapes since 1650, but only started to make their own Champagne in the 1920s. The company is now run by an Englishman, Jonathan Saxby, and his wines are (unusually) based on the Pinot Meunier grape. Their Champagnes have a distinctly full bodied, fruity and spicy flavour which is representative of the Marne Valley and they are excellent value for money. We were given a very warm welcome by Jonathan and his commercial manager, Sebastien Jandon. After a tour of their modern winery we were treated to a tasting of four wines. These proved remarkably easy to drink with everyone enjoying their full, fruity flavour. We left Moutardier with our car boots filled and headed north up the Surmelin Valley towards Dormans for our picnic lunch. Dormans was the central point of the two battles of the Marne during which the future of France was decided. A national subscription provided for the creation of a 52 meter high monument of remembrance. We stopped at this peaceful spot to have lunch and those with the energy climbed to the top to admire the views over the valley. With our stomachs full, but our fuel tanks low, we drove in search of a filling station. The staff at the local Total must have thought it was Christmas as twelve thirsty Jags popped in for a drink! With cars’ and drivers’ hunger satisfied we headed down the N3 to our second visit of the day at Champagne Jacquesson in Dizy. This medium sized house was founded in 1798 and was a favourite of Napoleon. It is one of the finest Champagne Houses in France and definitely a producer “for those in the know”. The company is owned by the Chiquet family and it was Jean-Herve Chiquet who greeted us as we drove up the pretty entrance flanked on either side by vines.
Jean-Herve is a great car lover and he was fascinated by the XKs. The words, “c’est magnifique” were uttered many times during the afternoon. The house is fortunate to have its own ‘clos’ (walled vineyard) inside the premises and Jean-Herve started here by explaining the importance of good viticulture to the final product. The principle is simple: good wine needs good grapes as the raw material. Leaving the glorious sunshine, we were shown the beautiful oak barriques that are used to ferment the still wines that will eventually become Jacquesson Champagne. A formally set tasting room had been arranged and Jean-Herve served us four superb wines, each with very unique characteristics. Jean-Herve is passionate about quality and this is reflected in his wines which have tremendous style and elegance. After a presentation we said our goodbyes and set off to Cumeries where the paddle boat Le Champagne Vallee was waiting to take us for a cruise down the River Marne. It was early evening and having had glorious weather all day, the rain started. Not to be put off, we braved the elements and sat resolutely on the exposed top deck in rain coats, much to the amazement of the French and German tourists on the boat. Our cruise gave the drivers the chance to see some of the sights they had missed during the day such as the stunning Chateau de Boursault which was built for the Widow (Veuve) Clicquot. Day 2 Churches, Chardonnay and Classy Champagne The first thing on everyone’s mind was the weather; more specifically “should I clean the car now, or is it going to rain later?” Thankfully we awoke to a fine and bright day, so breakfast was quickly followed by a group ‘car fettling’ session in the hotel car park.
On day two we would explore the area south of Epernay know as the Cote des Blancs. This is an area of deep chalk subsoil where the best Chardonnay vines are found. There are many pretty wine villages here, each containing very good small producers making wonderful Chardonnay based Champagne (or Blanc des Blancs - literally white juice from white grapes). En route to our first visit at Cramant, we stopped at the pretty 13th Century church at Chavot-Courcourt where calendar competition madness took hold as everyone tried to get the winning shot of the cars, church and vineyards! Our appointment in Cramant was with Jean-Louis Bonnaire, producer of some of the creamiest Blanc de Blancs Champagne around. We received a warm welcome and were taken to see the production facilities. Champagne making at Bonnaire started in 1932, but the current facilities are very modern and include state of the art computer controlled pressing machines and new stainless steel vats for fermenting the still wines. We were lucky that the disgorging machine was running and we got to see first hand the process of freezing the sediment and its removal using the natural pressure in the bottle. Having seen the wine making process, we moved in to their cosy tasting room to sample some of their wines. We were offered five delicious cuvees, all made from 100% Chardonnay. The final bottle, opened in our honour, was a Special Club Reserve from 1985. This wine really divided opinions, proving that older is not necessarily always preferable. From Bonnaire we drove a pretty route through Avize and Oger to the Mesnil Sur Oger, famous for producing the most powerful and long-lived of all Blanc des Blancs wines.
The sister houses of Delamotte and Salon sit side by side in the sleepy village of Mesnil sur Oger. Delamotte is the sixth oldest house in Champagne and is a small, quality conscious producer with an excellent range of Champagnes. Their wines are very easy to drink, so much so that “any time is Delamotte time”! Salon is much younger. It was created in 1911 by Eugene-Aime Salon to make wine for his own consumption, but later became famous as the house wine of Maxim’s in Paris. Mr Salon wanted to create a unique wine that could be aged for a long time and this is what makes Salon so special. The wine is made only in exceptional years (3 times a decade) and in tiny quantities (up to 50,000 bottles per vintage). Compare this to the 2 million bottles of Dom Perignon that get made in a vintage year and you’ll understand what exclusive REALLY means!
Our hosts took us into the heart of the Salon cellars which contains vintages going back to 1928 and a number of requests were made for bottles to celebrate special anniversary and birth dates! From the cellars we were shown into the stylish Salon mansion. The walls are adorned with memorabilia including a menu from Concorde with Salon shown as the Champagne of choice on this most prestigious aircraft. We were then led out onto the terrace and as the Salon mansion ended; their vines began, rolling up the hills behind the house. With this as our beautiful backdrop we were treated to a tasting experience that will linger in our minds for a long time to come. Our hosts, Audrey and Jean-Baptiste, first led us through the complete Delamotte range of Champagnes which were a joy to drink. As we tasted, it was great to see people comparing and discussing the wines and their various preferences. With our palettes warmed up, we were thrilled when our hosts popped the corks on some bottles of 1996 Salon. Less than 50,000 bottles of this exceptional wine are available to the World’s wine connoisseurs and we were very privileged to be offered some to taste. Before heading for some well earned lunch, our hosts pulled a final surprise - an aperitif of Delamotte 1996 served from Magnums on their terrace. 1996 was an exceptional year in Champagne; so good in fact that the 1996 we tasted is no longer available! Audrey and Jean-Baptiste joined us for lunch as guests of the Club and we had the type of leisurely lunch that only the French really know how to do properly. A fine meal capped a truly memorable day in the Cote des Blancs and, after making a presentation, we headed back to the hotel to unwind for the rest of the day. You can read more about our visit to Salon-Delamotte on their Blog at http://blog.salondelamotte.com. Day 3 Bond, Bolly and Beautiful Cellars We woke on Wednesday to another beautiful day with clear skies and a warm sun. Despite the offer of a lie-in, people were up early: Nick Antil had borrowed a bucket and was busy cleaning his car; the day’s picnic had been collected from Carrefour and the rest of the gang were taking breakfast in the conservatory.
We had explored two out of the three Champagne grape varieties and today’s drive took us north to discover Pinot Noir through the vineyards of the Montagne de Reims. Our day began with Bollinger, the preferred Champagne of the World’s most famous spy. We parked our twelve Jags in the courtyard of the original Bollinger house and met our host for the day, a charming gentleman called Christian Dennis. He was very taken by the cars and noted that the previous day the courtyard was home to a DB9 and V8 Vantage. Naturally, on hearing this we all maintained an air of cool nonchalance and the visit began in earnest! Many of the wine making processes at Bollinger are unique to this house and Christian focussed on these during our visit. We started at the heart of the house, a large warehouse containing hundreds of small oak barrels that are used in the fermentation of some of the still wine. Bollinger is one of a handful of producers that vinify in oak as they believe that the exchange between the wine and air during fermentation is crucial. Making wine in oak barrels is an expensive and labour intensive business (most producers use stainless steel vats) and we were sad to hear that Bollinger is the only house in Champagne that still has its own cooper.
As we descended into the cellars we were shown maturing bottles of wine with cork stoppers rather than the usual metal caps. Bollinger do this because they believe the final Champagne develops more complexity using a breathable cork. Again, this attention to detail adds more manual effort as each bottle must be disgorged (cleaned of sediment) by hand rather than by machine. We were lucky to see this manual disgorgement process in action and observe their amazing automated bottling line. After visiting Bollinger’s private wine museum, we stopped by the legendary Vieille Vignes vineyards. Bollinger makes a very special wine from these grapes called Vieille Vignes Francais, only 2,500 bottles are produced in a vintage year and it is incredibly rare.
Our final stop was at the tasting room where we were invited to sample the Non Vintage Special Cuvee and Vintage Grand Annee 1999. Both wines have a large percentage of Pinot Noir and were a real contrast to the chardonnay led wines from the previous day. The wines were full bodied with a trademark Bollinger taste of brioche and biscuits which won over more than a few hearts. By this time we were running a little late for our picnic, but luck was on our side: Christian was going home for lunch and offered to show us a short cut to our lunch spot. Better still, Christian made a gift of the left over Bolly to supplement our picnic lunch. It’s not everyday you get to eat ham and cheese baguettes washed down with Vintage Bollinger! From the forest we headed up towards Reims, taking the scenic Champagne Route through Verzy and Verzenay. Our destination was Champagne Vilmart. Run by Laurent and Virginie Champs, this small house is regarded as the finest grower producer in Champagne by wine writer Tom Stevenson. Oak again plays a part in the wine making here and Laurent makes beautifully harmonious wines with a perfect balance between acidity and fruit. The tasting room at Vilmart is also an experience in itself. Laurent’s father makes ornate stained glass and the room is adorned with his craftsmanship which makes a tasting here feel like a religious experience!
The last leg of our journey through the Montagne de Reims led us into the Cathedral city of Reims to see some very special cellars indeed. Ruinart is the oldest Champagne House in the World (founded in 1729) and has cellars built upon ancient Gallo-Roman Chalk pits dug in the 4th Century. The cellars (called crayères) resemble great underground cathedrals carved out of chalk. Our host, Julie, led us 30 meters below ground down a spectacular staircase to view four crayères including the largest and the most impressive. On our return to the surface another surprise was in store: Ruinart had set up a tasting of four Champagnes including their two most prestigious wines: Dom Ruinart and Dom Ruinart Rose. A fabulous treat! We said our goodbyes and headed in back down to Epernay where we relaxed by the pool before getting ready for dinner. This was the last evening of our tour and a celebratory dinner had been arranged at Epernay’s best restaurant, Les Berceaux. After a Champagne aperitif (well what did you expect!) we enjoyed a delicious four course meal and some very lively conversation. Day 4 Packing, Pol Roger and Parting
Our last day in Champagne started with rain and our first challenge was to find a way to get all our purchases into the XK’s rather limited boot. Our final visit was down the road on the Avenue de Champagne at Pol Roger, a house with very close links to England and to Winston Churchill. Sir Winston is rumoured to have drunk a bottle of Pol Roger everyday. On his death, the company honoured him by naming their best wine Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill and by putting a black collar around every bottle of Pol Roger. We were greeted at the impressive Pol Roger Mansion by Patrice Noyelle, the Managing Director, and his assistant Sylviane Lemaire. Mr Noyelle is proud to be a Jaguar driver and was keen to meet us before flying to a board meeting in Italy. Sylviane then took us to the winery and explained a little about the history of the house and family. Over the course of our Champagne Odyssey, we had heard a great deal about Riddlers, not Batman’s arch enemy, but the chaps who turn the Champagne bottles in the cellars to move the sediment to the neck. This manual process is highly skilled, takes up to two months to complete and a good Riddler needs to turn 50,000 bottles every day. Pol Roger is one of the only houses to do all of its riddling by hand and Sylviane had arranged for us to meet up with one of their riddling teams to see a demonstration of the technique.
From the cellars, we returned to the opulent surroundings of the Pol Roger mansion and were greeted by Hubert de Billy. Hubert is heir to the family business and the company’s Commercial Manager. As our aperitif (a 1998 Pol Roger) was served Mr de Billy was keen to hear about our trip. He also told us of plans to build a new racing circuit in Epernay which will be open to the public – a reason to go back to Champagne in 2010 perhaps? At the end of our visit to Pol Roger we said goodbye to Trevor and Jill Alexander who were spending a further week exploring France (and thus the envy of all of us!). Our journey back up to Calais passed uneventfully; the traffic was light and we made good time to the Shuttle. We said our goodbyes on the train and completed the final leg of our Champagne Odyssey. Sadly we found Britain much as we left it: with way too much traffic and not nearly enough Champagne! On behalf of the Club we would like to thank the following for their support in planning the 2007 Champagne Odyssey. All our tour sponsors: And to:
There is an extensive Photo Album of the tour in the Members Only area of the website!
|
 |