Our last full day in Champagne was the "big one". During previous trips to other regions of France, I drove or we found train connections. When driving I (obviously) wasn't able to taste the wonderful adult beverages produced by the places we visited. When doing the train or bus; well, I just didn't feel very comfortable partaking in said beverages. As a whole we'd kind of avoided tours as much as possible, but our experience with the Italian Days Food Tour changed our opinion on small group and private tours. I decided to go ahead and book a private tour with The Champagne Tour Company. Dealing with Larry Davis who runs the company was a pleasure and a custom tour was designed for us. We not only wanted to visit a large Champagne house; but also smaller producers and learn a bit about the process.
Our driver arrived on time and we were quickly whisked away to Bisseuil and Champagne Bauchet, where we were introduced to the amazing process of Champagne making.
From the making of the wine. To the blending and ageing……in underground cellars.
To the age old process of "riddling" where the bottles are slowly tilted down over time, while turning occasionally, this is still sometimes done by hand.
To the process called disgorgement.
It was interesting to see the process in a Champagne House like Bauchet, which produces 300,000 bottles a year.
Because on our next stop; we were back in Epernay, on Avenue de Champagne at probably the most well known Champagne House in the World; Moët & Chandon, which by the way also produces Dom Perignon, and is part owner of Louis Vuitton.
We kind of expected what we got at M&C, a polished, professional, and somewhat sterile tour of the cellars and history of Moët & Chandon. You know the deal, "we're walking….we're walking"….
Everything fits within the brand and the image of luxury that Champagne is associated with. That is not to say that the tour wasn't interesting; it was.
The cellars are quite a sight to see; the cellars of Moët & Chandon spans 17 miles under Epernay; the most in the Champagne region.
There are some locked off areas which we were told hold some of the rarest and most expensive Champagne in the world.
At the end; we had a tasting of several variations and vintages.
And of course no tour is complete without a visit to the gift shop afterwards…..
In case you just needed to get that (those) bottle(s) of Dom Perignon.
I'm glad we did Bauchet first as we could really see the stark contrast in marketing and branding.
We were running a bit late, so we were dropped off for lunch at a place Larry Davis had said we'd enjoy; La Table Kobus.
Since we hadn't walked very much on this day; we weren't super hungry. So, even though "Le Menu de l’Ardoise", basically the pre fixe menu for lunch looked great; we decided to share two appetizers and one main for lunch. The staff here are amazing; the service is top notch. And they even split all the dishes for us!
Frog Legs with Favas.
Tender frog legs, very nicely seasoned. The beans had a nice firm texture with a nice, mildly sweet-grassiness to it.
The Foie Gras…..
Beautifully split as you can see. Very smooth, earthy flavors.
And the mushroom "ravioli".
Loved the acidity of what seemed to be a wonderful confit tomato. The mushrooms were wonderful, earthy in flavor, very nice. Not a big fan of the rather brittle wrapper, but this was a nice dish overall.
The Missus had all the confections for dessert.
And a nice stiff espresso got us back on our feet.
A nice lunch. If we'd stayed in Epernay, I'm sure we'd eat here again.
La Table de Kobus
3 Rue Dr Rousseau
51200 Épernay, France
From here we were taken on a short drive uphill to view the vineyards.
And then off to the village of Hautvillers.
And to the Abbey in the village.
Why, you may ask? Well, in this former Benedictine Monastery lived a monk named Dom Perignon. And while sparkling wine existed before Dom Perignon, it surely would not have been Champagne as we know it without his contributions.
You can see the relics (bones) of Saint Nivard who founded the Abbey. But what most people come to see is the burial site of Dom Perignon.
It was an interesting stop….so much history here.
As we were running late; we couldn't make our designated time at our last stop. Instead, arrangements were made to visit a small producer in Rilly La Montagne named Brugnon. It would turn out to be our favorite stop on the tour.
Phillippe Brugnon met us in front of his house; there were no signs that we could see. What followed was an amazing personal tour of his family's production facility.
It was a wonderful excursion. We also found that Monsieur Brugnon is an expert at Sabrage; opening a bottle of Champagne with a saber!
We enjoyed the personal touches and the stories….like how they managed to get all of the equipment and facilities underneath the house. He explained that the peeled away what is the parking lot to get everything in place; then rebuilt and repaved the parking lot above!
We also found out that Champagne Brugnon is not exported to the States……so we bought two bottles…which were delicious by the way. We'd drink one later on during the trip and the other back home on New Year's Eve.
We were dropped back at the hotel after quite a full day. I highly recommend the Champagne Tour Company if you'd like a private, custom tour in Champagne. It was worth every penny and we had a blast.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cool underground cellar! I’ve never been in one.
It’s always fun to see both sides of the spectrum.
Hi Soo – From what I read; there are 155 miles of Champagne cellars under Reims alone.
That’s so true Junichi!
looked like a great tour!
It was a lot of fun and quite interesting Kat!