Champagne

I let far too much time pass by before coming back to write on these pages. Lots of lovely things happened during these months and it was certainly a busy time. Many great wines have been tasted together with some lovely meals. But what pushed me to find the time and start writing again was our trip to Champagne a few days ago.

Such an amazing experience and such an incredible discovery of a world that was completely unknown for me until now. For me, Champagne was not even considered a real wine. It was simply a nice companion for some small apero before passing to his bigger red or white brothers with the meal. Of course, until now I just drank the most commercial Champagne, correct products but not really able to transmit big emotions. What opened my mind for the first time on Champagne was a Champagne Vintage from Pierre Peters from 1999 that I drank during the Christmas holiday in Canada last year (it is mentioned in one of my previous posts). That bottle pushed me to deepen my knowledge of the region and, Oh My God, what a new universe has been opened to me.

But let’s go in order. First of all the place we stayed during our short trip in Champagne certainly had a big role in my illumination on this new world. In fact, we stayed in the boutique hotel of one of the most prized and sought after Champagne producers, Mr. Anselme Selosse of the Champagne Jacques Selosse in Avize. It was never so true that we start from the best. The hotel is an enchanting nest where every detail is taken care at the utmost level of perfection. With only twelve rooms, the small size helps make you feel as though you are at home with friends.  The restaurant is amazing and we immensely enjoyed every lunch and dinner we had there. The menu is fixed, but on all three occasions we ate there we would not have changed any of the plate, even if there would have been the choice to do so. The staff were all amazing and the young chef working there was also passing by the tables to make sure that the guests were happy. The wine list is amazing with very reasonable recharge on the wines and with an amazing choice of small producers who are generally not easy to find on most wine lists. And if you just want to have a snack go for the Sardines Ramon Pena, which at first glance seems not a noble food, but I can assure you that these incredible sardines paired with a Champagne Brut Nature from Agrapart were one of the highlights of the trip. Eating at Les Avises is an unforgettable experience.

But as unforgettable as the food, also unforgettable were the tastings and wines we tried from Mr. Selosse. First of all you will be completely enchanted by the personality and the passion of Mr. Selosse. Anselme Selosse is considered to be one of the “guru” of the new generation of Champagne producers. This is particularly true due to his revolutionary ideas by which he has created a completely new perspective on how to produce Champagne. His basic principles are that to make a great Champagne you must start with a great wine for the base. Also his intervention are limited as much as possible because he believes that man should not have too much influence on the product of nature. His theory is that one of the most important thing on the production of the is the relationship between a healthy soil and the wines that comes from them. In the winery he minimises the use of sulphur and only uses indigenous yeasts for fermentation. Even with our poor French it was a pleasure to listen to his stories and his unique ways of explaining his wines. We had the chance to try his Version Original, one of his lieux dits (Ay) and the Brut Rose’. I will certainly remember this Champagne tasting as an incredible experience. We set a bar that will be difficult to surpass. Unfortunately the availability to purchase wines at the Domaine is very limited, and at the end I was able to leave with only three bottles, when in my desire I would have had at least three cases.

During our days in the region we also spent time also wandering around the beautiful vineyards. Champagne is a “strange” region, the scenery is not as dramatic as other wine regions (I can think of Chianti, Langhe, Rhone, Valais) but it has as well a certain beauty. We were a bit disappointed about the villages, Epernay is not what I would define as a beautiful village. Avize is nice but not as charming as many other little French villages. We also went for some other wine tasting in the area. However, I would say that while there are plenty of opportunities, you really need to have your ideas clear before leaving. Also, it is important to take appointments in advance and ask the vigneron if wines are still available to purchase at their domaine. For many of them (especially the most famous) rupture of the stocks are frequent and you will be disappointed if your target of the trip was to stock up with wines and you find yourself left without a single bottle. We had a very good tasting at a small vigneron, Laherte Frères, very generous with the quantity to taste and with a large selection. We were less lucky with Agrapart & Fils, also in Avize. Fortunately I found a fantastic boutique in Epernay (LE 520) where I was able to find a wide selection of the main Champagne producers and was able to stock up well before our return home.

Another great experience, and something I would suggest to everybody visiting the Champagne region, is a visit to Ruinart, one of the biggest and most well-known Champagne houses in Reims. In this case my interest was not only on the wines (that I anyway like and drink with extreme pleasure) but also on the visit of the Crayeres, the incredible underground world lying underneath Reims. It was an incredible and fascinating visit in this different dimension, full of thousands of bottles of amazing wines aging in their bottles and waiting their moment to hit the mark. It was a magical experience as well and I will let the pictures speak for themselves as it is difficult to describe with words.