Our next stop on our France Wine Tour was Champagne. Rob and I are typically not big Champagne drinkers, but we might be changing that a little. What a fun couple of days!
So unlike Bordeaux, Champagne is a region, not a
town. It is in the northeastern part of France and its main city is Reims,
which was our base for touring the bubbly area.
We spent two days listening to people pronounce the name of
the city and I’m still not sure I have it right. In English, it sounds like “rames” to rhyme
with the name “James.” In French, there’s a whole throat-clearing “rrrr” sound
that is then followed by some “aaaa” sounds that trail off in the neighborhood
of an “n” – not an “m” – and then maybe ends in a “z.” It almost sounds like “rrrrains”
but not really. French is weird. And sometimes painful.
The city of Reims is the closest I have seen so far to Napa. It is more commercial and touristy than the other areas we have visited, with lots of beautiful people and Instagram-ready outfits and bachelorette parties and designer purses. It is a very lively, happy, energetic area that perfectly reflects the bubbly drink it is so famous for.
 |
| Tons of sidewalk cafes, stores, exceptionally walkable |
 |
| Some of the sidewalks are actually roads. And the cars are generally super small and sneaky. |
Landscape-wise, as our train chugged northward, it felt like we were heading up in elevation. There are still rivers in Champagne, but we were no longer in the valleys right along them. Instead, it felt like we were on a plateau, with softer rolling hills that are almost entirely covered by grapevines. It is the stuff of postcards and what I imagined French Wine Country would look like.
 |
| All The Champagne Grapes! |
Our touring started in a wine bar in Reims the night we arrived. We got to sample 3 Champagnes while getting a private introduction to the area and its famous beverage. It was casual and cozy and local. I loved it!
 |
| Our reservation was at 5:00pm, so we were the only customers there. Locals started showing up a couple hours later. My body really isn't a fan of 8:00pm dinner reservations! Je ne suis pas European. At all. |
The next day was an all-day tour with 6 other English-speakers. There was a family of 4 from London who were celebrating Dad’s 60th birthday in between his constant trips to Dubai where he works, and a hungover couple from Houston who were on a daytrip from Paris where one had just presented a paper at a conference and they celebrated by attending an into-the-wee-hours music festival the night before. We briefly joined another tour group where we met two lively, flowy Millennials from Chicago who were on Day 1 of a Girls’ Trip to France that will culminate at the Taylor Swift concert in Lyon next week. Travel brings such fascinating intersections of people and lives!
 |
| Our group before we got to know them. We tasted Champagne inside a cave that once served as a wartime hospital. LOTS of World War II history in Champagne. The day before, we wandered over to the museum where WWII ended in Europe: The Museum of the Surrender |
Our day-long outing started with a tour of the Veuve Clicquot winery (locally called a “Champagne House”) that was very stately and historic and statusy and featured the only branded gift shop (“boutique”) so far. Although we enjoyed their highly controlled, fancy Champagne – and I plan to read a biography of the Widow Clicquot who was apparently a groundbreaking badass in the male-dominated world of Champagne production – it was all a little too big and commercial feeling.
 |
| They are so fancy, they have their own trademarked color. |
 |
| The orangey yellow is distinctive and probably a color that only a few people can wear and not look like they had too much Champagne the night before. |
 |
| Among the Champagne Houses on this street: Moet & Chandon, Perrier, and Pol Rogers. |
We visited two family-run Champagne Houses that featured lunch, dogs, and adventures in plumbing (one restroom made the eclipsey one in the Texas gas station seem positively opulent). It was a beautiful day traveling about, taking in the scenery, sipping bubbles, learning about grapes and rules and methods and glassware, and trying to stay present in the realization that we were in Champagne, France. Sort of a "pinch yourself" day.
 |
| Old-timey wine press for very slow juice extraction so the juice stays white despite using red grapes. |
 |
| Champagne Houses can legally buy and sell grapes to each other, as long as everything is grown and stays within Champagne (the area). |
 |
| Lunch! A veggie quiche and pork marinated in Champagne (the beverage). Very tasty! |
 |
| The quaint town of Épernay. If I were ever to return to Champagne, I would stay there instead of Reims. Much more cozy, local, and historic. |
So what did we learn about Champagne wines? Quite a bit! First, a map.
 |
| Reims is towards the top in the center, between the orange blobs. Épernay is at the very top of the dark green blob. The different colored blobs grow different grape types. |
We didn’t learn much about the appellations in Champagne. Mostly
we learned about the grapes and the process. One critical thing to know is that
for a sparkling wine to be called a Champagne, the grapes must have been grown,
hand-picked, and made into wine in Champagne, France. Otherwise, it must be
called something else – like sparkling wine, prosecco, cuvee, or fancypants alcoholic
seltzer water.
Champagne can be made (again by French law) from up to 8
different grapes but we only heard about 3 main grapes. The remaining 5
comprise less than 1% total of any growth or production so nobody mentions them.
The three grapes of Champagne – grown in almost equal
amounts – are Chardonnay (white grape), Pinot Noir (red grape), and Meunier (a
red grape also known as Pinot Meunier but everyone shortens the name). I had
never heard of the Meunier grape. It is known for its heartiness (easier to
grow) and from our tastings, it adds a weird earthiness and darkness that I
didn’t really like. In my mind, Champagne should be light and happy and bubbly; not moody
and dank and heavy.
Most French Champagne is primarily made from Pinot Noir
grapes, with the other two grapes often blended in. You can get Champagnes that are
100% of one grape varietal. A Champagne that is 100% Chardonnay is called “Blanc
de Blanc” (white wine from white grape). A Champagne that is 100% Pinot Noir is
called “Blanc de Noir” (white wine from red grape).
Almost all Champagnes are white despite using red grapes.
They avoid getting any color into the juice by not allowing the skins of the
red grapes to hang out with the juice. There ARE some rose Champagnes. Those
get their pinkish color from either hanging out with the red skins for a bit,
or from red wine (made in Champagne so as to legally keep the name) being added
before bottling.
Champagne rarely sees an oak barrel. Almost all of the time,
Champagne gets its flavor entirely from the grapes and how they are grown and
processed. Once grown and very slowly and lightly pressed, Champagne juice goes
into a stainless-steel tank to start fermenting. Once the fermenting is done
after about one month, the juice gets put into bottles. Some sugar (in a
syrup/liquid form) and yeast are added and the bottles are capped with metal
caps much like a Coke bottle. This is to force a second fermentation. This
second fermentation was the brain child of a famous monk who lived near Épernay
– a dude named Dom Pérignon.
As the second fermentation happens, yeast die and settle in the bottle. There’s a whole process of slowly rotating the bottle tiny bits over weeks and months to get the dead yeast to settle in the neck of the bottle. The process is called “riddling” – helping to get “rid” of the dead yuck stuff. The badass Widow Clicquot invented a table to help this process.
 |
| The Widow Clicquot had an idea and used her kitchen table to test it out. Eventually, the riddling racks were moved upright to save space and back muscles. If you look closely, you can see the dead yuck stuff in the neck of the inverted bottle. |
 |
| Riddling rack. These days, machines are used. They are big metal cubes that bottles are stuck into and the cube is programmed to move tiny bits on a schedule. |
After you riddle, there’s another step to get the dead yuck
stuff out of the bottle (called “disgorgement”) that happens super-fast so that
the carbonation generated by the second fermentation doesn’t entirely escape
the bottle. There are a couple ways to do this. In an effort to not get too deep
into the vineyard, feel free to Google “disgorgement methods” for lots of
detail.
To open a bottle of Champagne, you untwist the little metal wires of the cage under the foil a total of 6 turns. Always 6, apparently either by agreement or – more likely – French law. Then, keeping the cage on the cork and with your thumb securely on top of the cage, you twist the bottle – not the cork. You should hear a slight little whisper as the cork is dislodged from the pressure. Some have described the desired sound as a “Queen Elizabeth fart.” That whole big bang popping sound that Americans love so much is apparently…very American.
Another eye-rolling Americanism is our choice of Champagne glass. Whether it is a rectangular flute or one of those rounded, flat martini-like glasses, we are doing it ALL WRONG! The proper glass for Champagne is a delicate little tulip glass with a long stem. The shape allows the aromas of the Champagne to be enjoyed without killing the bubbles. If you have ever tried to smell Champagne in a flute glass, you probably mostly smelled glass. There’s just not enough room in there for the wine and a nose. And those martini glasses make the bubbles disappear faster than cheap a bubble bath. We heard several times, “Champagne is a wine. Serve it in a wine glass.”
 |
| From a quick internet search, these are much cheaper than what we might find in the United States. But we weren't interested in trying to get them home in our suitcase. |
Whether it was the proper glasses or having access to a wider variety of options, Rob and I both agreed we liked French Champagne much better in France than what we have had at home. The Champagnes we tried in Champagne were generally fruitier, apple-y, and much more complex and interesting than what we have found in the United States. The local Champagne had layers to it that we didn’t expect. One Champagne we tried that was a blend of the 3 grape varietals was best described (by us) as “fermented Louie-Bloo Raspberry Otter Pop with a hint of caramel.” Yes, in order to taste wine with us, you must know your 1970s frozen confections and 7-Eleven candy aisle.
 |
| Properly glassed Champagne. I loved watching the column of bubbles in the middle of the glass. They were small and lively and sort of mesmerizing. |
Champagne was probably the area I was least interested in on our itinerary, simply because I don’t really drink that much Champagne (or sparkling wine) because it has never been that interesting. Clearly I have just been drinking the wrong stuff in the wrong glass, because Champagne turned out to be an iconically gorgeous area with surprisingly interesting and varied wine. And this is why we are here!
Next stop: nearish Germany to discover the wines of Alsace!
 |
| Still sort of stunned by this photo. It doesn't look real. We've had variable weather the entire trip, but it was gorgeous for this moment! (That is the Marne river in the background) |
1 comment:
Yay Champagne! And, I have that book. She was bad ass.
Post a Comment