Champagne Tour

Trong Nguyen, who is the marketing director of a small company, Paris Champagne Tour, generously offered me a one-day tour of the Champagne region two weeks ago.

I had the same excitement level about going to Champagne as when I was a child and my parents told me we were going to the New York Worlds Fair. Trong is a kind, mild mannered Vietnamese man and he picked me up at 8AM for the two-hour drive in his car along with two sweet, young girls from Australia & New Zealand, who were working in Hong Kong as au pair’s. He was thoughtful enough to supply a thermos of hot coffee and croissants for the early morning ride.

It was a perfect weather day, warm and sunny with that special color blue sky you only see in France. Just 30 minutes outside of Paris, the landscape turned rural with green grassy fields, cows, horses, and farms. Trong gave us a very thorough and lively history of the Champagne region and our first stop was the vineyard next to Bollinger and Louis Roderer. He showed us how the grapes were grown and planted, explaining that three type of grapes were used in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, both black grapes and Chardonnay, a white grape. After, we went to a top of a hill that had a romantic windmill with a breathtaking, expansive view of the area.

We were taken to a small, family run winery called Godme, where the pleasant, warm Madame Godme personally gave us a tour. She shared in great detail about the entire process of Champagne making, starting with how the grapes were stored and finishing with adding the right amount of sugar, corking the bottles, and the storing and shipping of them. As you know I am not a connoisseur of any sort on wine making, so all of this was a fascinating education to me. Even though they are considered a small winery with only an output of about 150,000 bottles a year, the small staff of eleven people that includes most of the family works ten to twelve hour days almost the whole year. At the end of the tour, Madame Godme popped open a few bottle for us to sample, and she generously poured five various vintages. They included a dry, semi dry, and a rosé, which was my favorite and I bought a bottle for a decent price of 16 euros.

I was a little plastered after 6 flutes of Champagne at 11:30AM on an empty stomach, so the timing for lunch couldn’t be better. In Reims, the center city of the Champagne region, we ate at the charming Brasserie Boulingrin dating back from 1925 with the original wine workers mural intact. I enjoyed a three-course meal of a fresh shrimp salad, rack of lamb with potato puree, and yummy, refreshing dessert of poached nectarines with creamy rice pudding. It was Trong’s favorite restaurant and local hangout, so the staff went out of its way to treat us to excellent service.

The next stop was the magnificent Reims Cathedral, the jewel of the crown of Reims. Larger than Notre Dame and completed earlier, at one time it was the most important church in France. In the original church before it was destroyed by a fire in 1211, it was where Clovis, the first king of Franks, was baptized by Saint Remi in 496. I was most impressed with the abstract stained glass windows, especially the newer ones installed in the 20th century including a series by Chagall.

We ended the tour with a visit to the posh Veuve Cliqout, one of the most prestigious brands in the world. Completely contrasting the visit to Godme earlier that day, this was a slick, much more touristy experience. A lovely young woman dressed in a well tailored, black uniform dress took us down to the massive chalk caves and explained in a more formal way how the Champagne was made. She told us that Veuve Cliquot aged their Champagne for three years, 21 months longer than the required 15 months and also spoke about how the vintage years were determined. Spoiled by Godne’s generous offerings, I was disappointed by the paltry one glass they poured but the macaroons accompanying them made up for it. I have to say I thought the Godme was better.

We left Reims at about 5:30PM and we all slept off our over indulgence of Champagne from our delightful day before arriving back in Paris at about 8PM. I had a chance to talk to Trong in depth and he told me he had a big, high- salary corporate job and gave it all up to follow his passion for winemaking and Champagne, which shows in his extensive knowledge and unbridled enthusiasm.

I highly recommend this tour and I think it is an excellent value for 130 euros. If you do take the tour, please tell Trong I sent you.

www.parischampagnetour.com

Veuve Cliquot

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.

I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.

Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com

Comments

[YSLGuy]

The Champagne region is on my list of things to do/see when I do make it to Paris next year. I will have to check out this tour, sounds great.

[YSLGuy]

Oh, I wanted to mention that Veuve Clicqot is by far my favorite champagne.

[A Clear Blue Sky]

It sounds very good, but it is a bit meager. A visit to the Champagne region, without going also to Epernay or one of the grand cru villages is not complete. And in any village in the region there are small champagne houses in abundance where you can visit, get free tastings and reasonably priced bottles. Personally, I think the 130 euros is better spent on renting a car and going yourself.

And when in Epernay, be sure to visit madame Salvatore, a very small shop, packed with exclusive, reasonably priced champagnes, run by a very lovely old lady.

[A Clear Blue Sky]

Oh, and another thing, try to find out about a house where you can have a sabrage experience. You can try Brugnon in Rilly la Montagne.