Our celebration dinner at Le Grand Cerf

Day 8; Saturday June 5 was a free day and a chance for everyone to catch a taxi into Epernay and explore the township and maybe do some shopping. One of the great features of Saturday morning in Epernay is the fresh produce market which certainly drew plenty of attention. The display of pates, terrines, different meats, cheeses and vegetables were wonderful. The strawberries were particularly mouth watering and a punnet was quickly devoured.

After we finished at the market it was onto the wine shops to buy some Deutz champagne as we were unable to buy some at the winery the previous day. Alas we were too slow as others within our group had arrived before us and bought up all that was available. As we searched from shop to shop we would bump into members of our group carrying bags full of champagne. Les Australiens were certainly leaving their mark on the wine shops of Epernay.

The main event for the Saturday was still to come and that was our celebration dinner at Le Grand Cerf, a one star michelen restaurant in the village of Monchenot. This was a short 20 minute bus ride from our hotel and Stephen had prepared a quizz which he conducted on the journey. The questions tested our knowledge of champagne as they related to many of the things we had been told during the week. There were also questions relating to his observations of the different personalities on the tour, all very humourous.

As soon as we finished the quizz, we rolled into Montchenot and poured out of the bus and into the restaurant.

I cannot speak highly enough of Le Grand Cerf. The food and the service were fantastic. The staff were wonderful and the Sommelier was extremely helpful in assisting me to match the wines with the different dishes. This was a perfect end to a wonderful week with an excellent group of people. As tour leaders, Karen and I could not have asked for a better inaugural tour.

Day 9, June 6 saw us all have an early start as buses had to leave at 7.00am to meet flights from Charles de Gaulle airport and trains from Gare de Nord. In one way the tour wasn't quite over yet as bottles of champagne were opened on the early morning bus and consumed on the road to Paris. I think the tour members were right into the swing of things by now and I suspect this won't be their last visit to the beautiful region of Champagne.

Ross and Chrisitan Dennis pouring the Bollinger champagne

Our tasting in the gardens at Deutz with Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz.

Day 7, Friday June 4 would be our last day with winery visits and so there was a slightly sombre mood as we all met in the foyer of the Castel Jeanson before walking the 50 metres to Champagne Deutz. Everyone's spirits were lifted the moment we arrived and we were met by Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz. Jean-Marc offered everyone a strong coffee to begin with inside the Deutz mansion, whilst explaining the Deutz family history. Our spirits fortified we then set out on a small tour of the mansion followed by a stroll through the most stunning gardens at the rear of the house whilst on the way to the cellars.

Once in the cellars we were told of the evolution and growth of Champagne Deutz as we set out on a tour of the underground cellars, exploring the network of caves and seeing the difference of the underground chalk in Ay compared to Reims. Following Jean-Marc through the maze of caves we ascended a candle lit staircase to find ourselves passing through a door and re-entering the room from which we started. A most exhilerating tour. The weather was sensational so Jean-Marc suggested we have our tasting in the garden rather than the house and what a superb idea that was. Tasting in such a beautiful setting we were a captive audience as Jean-Marc showed us the Non Vintage Brut Classic, Vintage 2005 and William Deutz 1999. All stunning champagnes displaying the house style of finesse and elegance with mouth lingering flavour.

Everyone had their wallets out but alas Jean-Marc informed us that they didn't have a boutique at the winery. We thanked Jean-Marc for a wonderful visit and wandered back to Castel Jeanson where we enjoyed a wonderful smorgasbord lunch made up of produce that Karen and Tracy had gathered from the Ay market that morning.

After lunch we again had a short stroll to the House of Bollinger where we were met by the entertaining Christian Dennis. His dry humour coming to the fore whilst taking us on a tour of the famous Vielle Vignes Francaise vineyard where Bollinger has vines dating back to pre-Phylloxera times. We also learnt from the tour that Bollinger has an amazing library of reserve wines kept exclusively in magnums. It was an extrordinary sight seeing row upon row of magnums with reserve wines stored in their caves. We also saw the extent to which Bollinger use barrels for their primary fermentation of their vintage champagne base wines. Following the tour, which took in different parts of the village of Ay, we found ourselves in the tasting room enjoying a lovely glass of Bollinger Special Cuvee followed by a glass of the non vintage Rose.

This was our last winery visit for the tour but not our last glass of champagne for the day as we returned to Castel Jeanson to celebrate our time visiting such wonderful wineries with a glass of Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 1998.

To round out the day we assembled in the foyer once again that evening to follow Nicole Goutorbe to a local pub which she had arranged for us to eat in. Unpretentious from the outside we were treated to a hearty meal of confit de canard and the best part was that we were able to bring our own wines, so many of the champagnes we had accumulated on the tour came out to shine that night. What a happy and memorable occassion. There was only one day left on the tour and that was Saturday in Epernay followed by a grand celebration dinner.