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.

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.