Tour De Champagne 2011

Day 10 Monday 4 July 2011
We were able to enjoy a leisurely start to the final day of the tour as we only had a short walk to our 10.00 o'clock appointment at GH Mumm, home of the Mumm Cordon Rouge. Mumm were a late inclusion on the tour and they turned on an excellent visit for our group.

After a short film on Mumm and champagne we visited the vast network of Mumm caves under the streets of Reims. From here we were shown a large display of old champagne making equipment in the Mumm museum which was facinating before we headed up to the VIP tasting room for a wonderful tasting of the Mumm range of champagnes.

VIP tasting room at GH Mumm.

The remainder of the day was free for people to explore Reims. In the evening we gathered in the foyer of the hotel before we headed of to our last group dinner at Brasserie Le Jardin at Chateau Les Crayeres. This beautiful venue was the perfect setting for our last night together. The food was fabulous, the wines were fantastic and the group was entertained by two of tour members who performed a re-working of the song My Favourite Things to now take on the words My Favourite Drink. Another tour member recited a re-working of 10 green bottles to 18 champagne tourists to much amusement. And so the night drew to a close and the tour finished on a particularly high noteas we headed back to our hotel.

Our final dinner at Basserie Le Jardin.

Champagnes tasted this day were; Mumm Cramant Blanc de Blancs NV, Mumm NV, Mumm Rene Lalou 1999 and Mumm Rose NV. With dinner we drank Veuve Clicquot 2002 and were joined by Clicquot winemaker Philippe Thieffry and his wife Laurence.

Finally I would like to thank owners and staff of Veuve Clicquot, H. Blin, H. Goutorbe, Deutz, Joseph Loriot-Pagel, Billecart-Salmon and Mumm for making the tour a resounding success. Special thanks also to Philippe and Laurence for all their assistance during the planning stages and thank you to all our tour members who made the tour a very memorable and enjoyable experience for Karen and me.

Cheers

Ian Leamon 



Day 9 Sunday 3 July 2011
We needed to be on the bus at 7.30 am for the start of our mystery tour and everyone made it on time despite a big night, the night before. As the bus driver closed the door we announced that we were off to Brussels for the day.

This involved a three hour drive and a chance to catch up on some sleep but everyone was wide awake the whole way. 11.30 and we were delivered to Grand Place in the centre of Brussels by our bus driver whos excellent driving took us down some very narrow streets before reaching the drop off point.

We had five hours to explore the centre of Brussels before returning to Reims. Maps in hand everyone split up and went their seperate ways. The Grand Place was the main focus of attention quickly followed by lunch with some of the wonderful beers of Belgium.

Some of the stunning buildings at Grand Place, Brussels.

Our time in Brussels went quickly and by 4.30 we had all rendez-vous'd with the bus for the drive back to Reims. The return trip passed quickly with Jim's CD of Scotish songs blasting away in the bus whilst we drank a few champagne travellers. A good day was had by all as we rolled off the bus in Reims at 7.30 that night.
Champagne travellers consumed on the return leg were. Deutz NV, Bollinger 2002, Jacquesson 2000, Ruinart Rose, Gosset Rose, Krug Grand Cuvee and Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs 1998.

Day 8 Saturday 2 July 2011
The weekend has arrived and with it came a free day to explore the city of Reims. Some people caught taxis out to some of the surrounding battlefields whilst others spent their time in the immediate area of the CBD. However everyone at some time during the day hit the retail outlets as the French hold their half year sales at the start of July. With discounts up to 70% off it was interesting watching our tour members get into some serious retail therapy.

In the evening we caught the bus to Monchenot where we dined at the one michelin star restaurant Le Grand Cerf. Everyone was wearing their newly acquired clothes and they all looked a million dollars as we sat down to a fabulous dinner. The evening rolled on as the food and wine continued to flow and before we new it, it was 11.30 pm and time to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Our tour group at Le Grand Cerf

A few of us who should have known better had a couple of night caps back at the hotel before going to bed. Not the best preperation for an early start the next day as we were to set off on our Mystery Tour.

Champagne tasted at the dinner; Alfred Gratien NV from Epernay and Tarllant Rose 1998

Day 7 Friday July 1 2011
Today is our last day in Ay and as we checked out of Castel Jeanson and boarded the bus we were given a very fond farewell from the Goutorbe family who had looked after us so well, once again.

Our farewell trip was but a short one as we only travelled 5 minutes up the road to Mareuil sur Ay where we visited Billecart-Salmon. Billecart-Salmon gave us a very warm welcome and we set of on our tour with Claudia. Claudia firstly showed us the Clos Ste Hilaire vineyard behind the winery and spoke about what defined a clos.

Next was the barrel room where we could see the use of new barrels in the Billecart champagnes especially with regard to the red wine used in Rose production and also some of their Cuvee Prestige wines.
 From here we went down into the caves where we saw some tirage bottling as well as disgorging and labelling. It was wonderful to see so much activity and to get so much exposure to the bottling and labelling process.

After the tour we returned to the reception area where we were offered an excellent tasting of Billecart champagnes.

A line up of Billecart-Salmon champagne

After leaving Billecart we headed up to Reims which will be our base for the next four days. After lunch we met up with Andre who took us on an excellent walking tour of Reims where he explained the significance of the Cathedral for the coronation of the Kings of France as well showing us Roman ruins and other significant sites.

The day was capped off with dinner at the Brasserie Boulingrin where we were joined by Veuve Clicquot winemaker Philippe Thieffry and his wife Laurence.

Wines tasted today were; Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs NV, Billecart Extra Brut (non dosage), Blanc de Blancs 1999. Diebolt Blanc de Blancs NV from Cramant and Veuve Clicquot Cuvee Riche 2002.

Day 6 Thursday June 30 2011
The day started with a champagne breakfast as Rene Goutorbe brought two bottles of the Goutorbe Special Club 2000 into the dining room and started pouring them. This got everyone in the right frame of mind before we caught the bus at 9.00 am and drove along the Marne Valley to the small village of Festigny where we visited the Loriot family at Champagne Joseph Loriot-Pagel.

Our tour started with a visit to the vineyard where we saw both Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir vines. Jean-Philippe Loriot explained the appelation system and it's requirements for plantings and why varieties are planted where they are. After a quick explanation of the pruning system we headed down to the winery where we saw the riddling process in action, both by hand and by the automatic giro pallet.

Joseph Loriot hand disgorges a bottle of Champagne

Then Joseph and Jean-Philippe took us through the disgorging and labelling process before Joseph Loriot gave a demonstration of hand disgorging without freezing the neck.

After the tour of the winery we sat down to a very long lunch which took us through untill 4.00 pm.

Champagnes tasted at lunch were; Joseph Loriot-Pagel Blanc de Blancs 1997 from Jeraboam, Carte D'Or NV, Cuvee de Reserve 2000, Blanc de Blancs 2005 and the Rose NV.
Our evening tasting theme was Rose champagnes where we tasted the Rene Geofroy Saignee, Gosset Grand Rose and Ruinart Rose.

Day 5. Wednesday 29 June 2011
The heat of the previous two days had been dissipated by a huge storm on Tuesday night. Hail was present in some regions of Champagne with reports of extensive damage in the vineyards north of Reims.
Fortunately there was no reported damage in the regions surrounding Ay.

We had a relaxed start to Wednesday as our first appointment was not untill 10.00am and this involved a short 100 metre walk from our Castel Jeanson to Deutz. Deutz was founded in 1838 by William Deutz and on the day of our visit we were hosted by Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz. Jean-Marc is the perfect host as he had strong coffee ready to serve our tour members on arrival in the mansion occupied by William Deutz. A little heart starter whilst he told us about the Deutz family history.

After the coffee we walked through the stunning gardens to the cellars where we received an explanation of the Deutz winemaking philosophy and the origins of their grapes. We were also lucky enough to see the disgorging line in operation as well as explore the underground caves. The caves miraculously return to a room with in the Mansion and from here we received an excellent tasting of Deutz champagnes.
Champagnes tasted were Brut Classic NV from magnum, Blanc de Blancs 2004, Cuvee William Deutz 1999 and Rose NV.

Although we had come to the end of our tour at Deutz this was not the end of the day for Deutz Champagne as the house was extremely generous and delivered two magnums of the Brut Classic to our hotel to be served as an aperitif before dinner that night. Our special thanks to Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz and Philippe Rivet for this kind gesture.

Before dinner we conducted our second evening tasting and the theme was champagnes made from two or more grape varieties. Champagnes tasted were; Bollinger 2002, Jacquesson 2000 and Krug Grand Cuvee followed by the two magnums of Deutz Brut Classic. A fabulous lead in to the wood fired pizzas we consumed for dinner.

Day 4 Tuesday June 28 2011
9.30 am and after a good nights sleep everyone was onboard the bus and ready to head of to H. Blin for our first visit for the day. H. Blin is a co-operative producing excellent champagne in the Vallee de la Marne. We were met by their marketing manager Francois Gigandet who explained the reasons behind the existance of the co-op before taking us on a very informative tour of the cellars. The tour was concluded with an excellent tasting of Blin champagne.

After the visit to H. Blin it was back onto the bus for our return journey along the beautiful Vallee de la Marne to Ay. Awaiting our arrival was the Goutorbe family who had prepared a fabulous lunch for us complimented by their superb champagnes. The whole family produced an excellent lunch on what was a very warm day and Bertrands excellent duck is worthy of special mention.
Relief from the heat wasn't far away as we were taken on a tour of the cellars straight after lunch. The cellars in champagne remain at a constant 13C and this was ideal after the 35C we had been experiencing above ground. Etienne Goutorbe conducted the tour through the winding caves beneath the village of Ay explaining the champagne process as we went.

After the tour, tour members had time to relax before our evening tasting of Blanc de Blancs.

Line up of H. Blin champagnes tasted by our group.

Etienne Goutorbe explains the champagne process.

Wines tasted on this day were; H. Blin Brut NV, 2004, Rose NV and 1990 from the museum. At Goutorbe we tasted Cuvee Prestige from magnum that Rene Goutorbe had set aside for our lunch. Rose, and Special Club 2004, 2002 and 1998. For our Blanc de Blancs tasting we tasted Billecart-Salmon 1998, Le Hayre de Maria NV from Avize and Pol Roger 2000. All excellent champagnes.

Day 3 Monday 27 June 2011

Tasting with Philippe Thieffry

Lunch at Manoir de Verzy

We were collected by our bus at 8.30 for the drive from Paris to Reims, the capitol of champagne and the home of Veuve Clicquot. When we arrived at VC we were met by the Chief Oenologist Philippe Thieffry who introduced our group to the 3 grape varieties of champagne through a tasting of vins claires of each variety before tasting the final blend. This was followed by the final product, a magnum of Veuve Clicquot yellow label NV. After the tasting we were bussed out to the Veuve Clicquot Mnasion, The Manoir de Verzy where we enjoyed an exquisite lunch matched with a selection of the most wonderful Clicquot champagnes. Lunch was followed by a tour of the historic  VC cellars in Reims.
Champagnes tasted were, Veuve Clicquot Non Vintage, 1998 La Grande Dame, Vintage 2002 (a stunning champagne), Rose 2004, and vintage 1980. The 1980 was an absolute delight displaying youthful colour and flavour. A real treat. The final champagne was a Demi-Sec with the dessert.

Tour de Champagne 2011

Day 2 Sunday June 26 2011

Our second day in Paris was a free day. This allowed tour members to sleep in and then set off on their own to discover the beauty of Paris. Karen and I joined up with two friends to visit the Modern Art museum to view the Ralph Lauren car collection. This is an unbelievable collection of rare cars dating back to the early 1900's. The collection is made up of significant cars from the evolution of the automobile including, Bugatti's, Ferrari's and Jaguars.

In the evening we all met in the foyer of the hotel and then walked to the Cafe de la Paix for dinner. The Cafe de la Paix is a sumptuous restaurant within the Intercontinental Hotel Grand directly opposite The Opera. The decor is stunning and the excellent dinner and wines brought the group together for the first time for an extremely enjoyable evening.

Champagne drunk on the night was Henriot Blanc de Blancs NV.