Day 9              Sunday 10 June, 2012: Mystery Tour.

We had an early start to the day as everyone had to be on the bus by 8 o'clock to head off on our mystery tour. This year we headed off to Luxembourg city for the day. Remarkably everyone was wide awake and in good health as we traversed the beautiful country side of north eastern France before crossing into Luxembourg.

On arriving in Luxembourg we immediately caught a hop on hop off bus for a tour of the city.
After the bus tour everyone headed off in different directions to discover the city by foot.

We rendez voused at 4.00pm and headed back to Reims with a couple of traveller glasses of champagne to help the miles roll by.

Day 8              Saturday 9 June 2012: Reims.

Saturday was our first full day in Reims and and it was also a rest day so everyone had a leisurely start to the day before heading out to explore the city as well as visit the fabulous market which stretches on forever in the streets of Reims.

No doubt some shopping also took place and maybe even a glass of champagne was consumed during the day. You can never have too much champagne.

In the evening it was off to dine at the one star Michelin restuarant Le Grand Cerf. Our dinner at Le Grand Cerf is certainly one of the culinary high lights of the tour. It is a joy to see the look of admiration on everyones face as dish after dish is delivered to our table. We dined late into the night but we also had to be mindful of our early start the next morning for our mystery tour.

Day 7              Friday 8 June 2012 Aÿ: Billecart-Salmon

 

Friday was our last day in Ay and so we packed our bags and said good by to the Goutorbe family, our hosts for the past four days at Castrel Jeanson before heading of to the neighbouring village to visit Billecart-Salmon. The popularity of this visit is confirmed by the activity in the shop at the end of our tour.

 

During our visit to Billecart-Salmon we were taken on an excellent tour of their underground cellars which look like something out of a horror movie as the mould hangs down from the ceiling due to the high level of humidity.

 

Claudia, our guide placed special emphasis on the cold temperatures of the fermentation tanks and how important this was for quality and the Billecart style. We also saw the new wood aging facility before tasting the first release of a Billecart wood aged champagne called 'Sous Bois'

 

 



Day 6              Thursday 7 June 2012 Aÿ: Joseph Loriot-Pagel.  

We started the day with a bus drive along the beautiful Marne Valley to the idyllic village of Festigny where we were met by Joseph, Odile and Jean-Paul Loriot. The Loriot's took us to their vineyard to give us a close up look at the vines and the way that they are pruned as well as providing us with a spectacular panoramic view of the Valley in which they are situated.

 

Afterwards we took in a tour of the Loriot cellars before Joseph gave us demonstration of how champagne was disgorged by hand.

 

The hand disgorging was followed by lunch with the Loriots in their cellars where we ate our way through a truely gourmet lunch accompanied by the Joseph Loriot-Pagel Carte D'Or, Cuvee Reserve 2006, Blanc de Blancs 2005, Rose and a fabulous Jeraboam of 1997 Blanc de Blancs.

 

Lunch finished at 4.00pm and it was back onto the bus for the quiet drive back to our Hotel.

Day 5              Wednesday 6 June 2012: Aÿ, Deutz

We had a very leisurely start to Day 5 of the tour as we had a mere 50 metres to walk from our Hotel Castel Jeanson to the Deutz mansion for the start of our visit to Champagne Deutz. We were met by Jean-Marc Lallier Deutz who provided us with an extensive tour of the cellars including the disgorging and bottling lines. We also saw the recently built cellars before returning to the cellars for a tasting of the Deutz Brut Classic NV and Deutz 2006.

After the tasting we then retired to the Chairmans dinning room where we had a fabulous lunch matched with the Blanc de Blancs 2007, the Cuvee William Deutz 1999 and the Cuvee William Deutz Rose 2002. Simply a stunning line up of champagnes.





After lunch we had a free afternoon and so everyone headed into Epernay to take in the sights.

Day 4              Tuesday June 5, H. Blin and Henri Goutorbe.

We had another full day in front of us on Day 4 as we set off for H. Blin winery at 9.30 am. H. Blin is a mid sized co-operative in the Marne Valley which produces excellent champagne and a leading example of this is their 2004 vintage. On arrival we were met by the ebulient Jerome Blin who took us on an entertaining tour of the H. Blin cellars whilst explaining the process of Champagne production. After the tour Jerome started to pop the corks and we then tasted the Blin Non Vintage, Blanc de Blancs, Rose and vintage 2004 before climbing back on the bus at midday.

 

right, Jerome Blin

 

The bus then took us back to our Hotel and from there we walked the 100 metres to the Goutorbe winery where the Goutorbe family had prepared a fabulous and seemingly endless lunch matched with a wonderful selection of their champagnes. We tasted the Goutorbe Cuvee Prestige and non vintage champagnes as well as the 2004 and Special Club 2004. Rene Goutorbe continued to bring out older vintages of the Special Club stretching back to the early 90's during our lunch and we also tasted a Coteaux Champagne dry red Pinot Noir made by Ettiene Goutorbe. After lunch Etteinne showed us their recently restored Citroen from the 1930's before set out on a tour of the cellars.

 

Pre lunch drinks at Goutorbe Winery.

The beautiful old Citroen.

 

That evening we had our first champagne master class where we looked at a range of Blanc de Blancs champagnes including Taittenger Comtes de Champagne 2000, Pierre Peters 2004 and Pol Roger 2000. 

 





Day 3 Monday June 4, Reims: Veuve Clicquot

We checked out of our Paris hotel at 8.30 and caught our tour bus to Reims. The 2 hour journey provides everyone with another view of Paris as we drive along the Seine river on our way out of Paris. Soon we are arriving at Veuve Clicquot where we are greeted by Louise Vicq who is in charge of reception at VC. We then move on to the winery where we meet chief oenologist Philippe Thieffry.

Philippe has prepared a very educational tasting for us as we look at the 3 components of the Veuve Clicquot non vintage. We taste the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay as still wines before tasting a blend of the 3 components. Finally we taste the finished product from a magnum. Fantastic!!

After our tasting we catch the bus to the Manoir de Verzy which is a lovely house Veuve Clicquot own in the village of Verzy. We are joined by Louise and Philippe for a fabulous lunch at the Manoir. During lunch we tried the 2004 La Grande Dame, Vintage 2004, Vintage Rose 2004, Vintage Rose 1985 and Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec. The food was fantastic and the wines were sensational.

After lunch we returned to Reims where Louise took us on a tour of the historic Veuve Clicquot cellars. This was rounded out with a glass of the 1998 La Grande Dame. What a day!!

 

 

 

Top. Tasting with chief oenologist Philippe Thieffry and below our lunch at the Manoir de Verzy.