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| Hotel Les Avisés -Avize, France |
Should you ever find yourself in Champagne the Hotel Les Avisés should be on your list of places to stay (along with La Briqueterie in Vinay, Chateau Les Crayeres in Reims, Chateau Les Aulnois in Pierry, Chateau de Fere, Les Courcelles or B & B Maison des Vignes in Verzenay).
The Details: Les Avisés is owned by the ever so famous Jacques Selosse. The man, the champagne maker, the legend! Mr. Selosse is a guy with BRILLIANT ideas who has inspired an entire generation of wine growers in champagne with his passions ie-low yields, no chemicals, Grand Cru land, healthy-living soil, indigenous yeasts for fermentation, minimizing So2, aging in 20% new oak, wine left on lees for long periods, absolute minimum dosage, single vineyard cuvees, wine that expresses the character of the year. I could go on and on about Monsieur Selosse but I will stop there! All in all his passion has led him to make profound groundbreaking unique, exotic, intriguing champagnes which are delicious and perfectly complex. He is admired across the world as Jean-Francois Coche in Burgundy and Marcel Guigal in Cote-Rotie and has a cult like following (so much so that bandits broke in and stole $350,000 worth of champagne this April 2013 as well as hundreds of wine labels creating the possibility and fear of counterfeit Selosse in the market!). For some tourists, just being around this man, around his "terroir", hotel, restaurant is enough.
The Les Avisés hotel consists of 10 rooms in the middle of the champagne countryside surrounded by vines (the way a hotel in a wine making region should be, right?). Prices range from 230-380€ per night. The Best Rooms are Skol and Gamei which are the largest with the best views. Cheers and Salute have private terraces. Breakfast- 20€, Animals accepted. Closed August 6th-21st 2013.
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The charming hotel is located in the little village of Avize near Epernay, in the Cote de Blanc or land of Chardonnay. Jack Selosse produces the famous champagne Jacques Selosse Champagne (unbeatable quality and very low production) on site. The one downside? It is NOT possible to do a tour or tasting.
The Hotel is open, light and breezy and housed in a rather modern building and is fully renovated. The restaurant attached is lovely, with high quality ingredients, simple, gorgeous food and a fantastic wine list showcasing wines from around the world (described by Lefooding as "wine list for the gods!". The chef, Stéphane Rossillon is from Le Pic of Valence a 3 Michelin stars restaurant.
The cuisine: is traditional French with modern touches from here to there and innovative, gorgeous plating. Menu is 3 courses for 37€ lunch and 58€ dinner. Reserve early!
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| My lunch started with a fantastic light cepe mushroom soup with small pink lentils from champagne, oven roasted quail and was finished with a soft poached egg. The dish was light with a good amount of savory richness derived from the ever so softly poached egg and the lentils. This was plated with a crostini with lardo |
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The next course was filet mignon with a sauce a l'ancienne alongside a carrot and potato puree and roasted asparagus. This main plate was simple, bright and flavorful. The filet was cooked to a perfect precision (which is the constant you should find in all french cuisine).
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Food was of course paired with a bottle of champagne and for the afternoon we chose the ever so appropriate Jacques Selosse 110€ champagne (VO cuvee- 100% Chardonnay, 0 dosage).
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This hotel would be the perfect end to a day of small producer champagne tasting in the region. If interested, this our affiliate company provides chauffeur driven excursions in champagne Tasty Side To Life Tours.
Resturant Les Avises
59 Rue de Cramant
Avize 51190, France
ESSENTIALS- Has a terrace, open on Sundays, Mondays (Usually restaurants are closed these days in France)
PRICE: 36-50€
HOURS: 12-14h et 19h30-21h30. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
