Champagne Tasting Trip + Chateau Viewing

I kind of like the idea of killing two birds with one stone and getting to view incredibly beautiful, breathtaking Chateaus + Small Champagne Producers in the same day, at the same time. Sounds nice, right? We'll I think so...

I started bringing clients the other day with http://www.tastysidetolifetours.com to a great little small producer who I met at a Champagne fair just 20 minutes outside of Epernay close to the Blanc de Blanc terroir.

I love this producer because he has the greatest character and is an absolute joy to speak with. His Champagne is called Le Gallais http://www.champagnelegallais.com and he made my day and my clients were blown away by his humor, warmth and thorough explanation of the champagne making process. It is the time of year when producers are pruning their vines and my clients sincerely appreciated getting a little dirty, walking out into the fields and having the process explained to them.

Champagne vines are by nature creeper types of plants and therefore it is in their nature to spread as farrrr as they can. If they are left to their own little devices they would grow buds at the extremities of its branches thus risking producing a small number of grapes with irregular ripeness! Ie not a good thing! Therefore the vines must be hand pruned to maintain a good balance of ripeness and quality. Pruning begins mid January and ends at the end of March. During these months in the region you can smell and see little fires from cut wood left over from pruning. https://www.champagnegallery.com.au/champagne-science/viticulture/pruning-and-canopy-management/

The Producer: Herve's ancestors purchased this beautiful Chateau in the 1850's from la grand dame who was using it as a summer house. While we were not able to enter inside the Chateau, the outside grounds were absolutely stunning and it is quite well restored and taken care of.

With 3 hectors of land and a small production of 18,000 bottles a year Herve is truly a small producer. Also with a price point of 15-23 euro his Champagne is very much affordable. We tasted the Cuvee de Manor-Brut and an old bottle from 2002 which we picked up while exploring his cave.

The Beautiful tasting room

The Brut had incredible crisp notes of green apple, and tropical fruit and would be a perfect for an aperitif or alongside dessert. The vintage bottle which we were lucky to taste had much more complexity and notes of prunes and red fruit could be noticed. Both were outstanding and nothing like sitting with a producer in his home and telling you "to help yourself" to as many glasses of bubbly as you would like! It was before 11 so we stopped at 4 :)

The Reims Cathedral below

Our Mid day lunch break at http://www.epernay-rest-letheatre.com/Le Theatre Restaurant Eperany just 2 mins from the Gare.

Amuse Bouche shrimp with creme fraiche and tomato and a glorious avocado mousse with sliced prosciutto

Eggplant Tatin

Cannelloni of Smoked Salmon with crab and a coulis of tomato

Pear crumble with almond whipped cream and Reims rose biscuits

All in all a great day of small producer tasting, chateau viewing at Le Gallais Champagne in Boursault and a gourmet meal. If you are interested in going on a luxury and exclusive small producer Champagne trip on your next trip to France Tasty Side to Life Tours would be happy to help you have an unforgettable experience in the beautiful region!

Tasty Side To Life Tours

15 Rue Conservatoire 75009 Paris France

Email: tastysidetolifetours@gmail.com

website: www.Tastysidetolifetours.com

Associated Blog: www.thetastysidetolife.blogspot.com

The Perfect Sunday Day Trip from Paris

Little Champagne Village on the Mt de Reims

Solving "le cafard du dimanche" with a day of Champagne Small Producer Tasting

Oh Sunday's in France. Traffic is light, stores have the "fermée" signs blanketing their doors and the non-stop action packed days which are the usual norm routine of a tourist (you know days where you walk so much you're left with sore aching feet, tight hip flexors and nonstop motivation). Well, these days all of a sudden come to screeching halt as your realize, wait, everything is closed in France on Sundays?! What, oh what to do on such a day? I have an idea about how to solve the French Sunday Blues or the le cafard du dimanche.

It's the perfect day to get out of town for a little day trip. Do you think it's possible that you could find a similar bottle to the Veuve Clicquot you drank last night for 200 euro at Chez L'ami Louis for 25 odd euro in the region it's from?

I think you can and shhhh I know how! All you need to do is hire a chaffeur/ guide and translator to to take you on the 1.5 hr drive out of the standstill of Paris and into the old age beauty of Champagne. Then, as fast as likity split you can be having a Sunday funday filled with lounging in living rooms of small champagne producers while getting a bit tipsy and partaking in the degustation of 5-6 different cuvees, tasting local escargot at a farm, eating some Choucroute at a local Brasserie that won awards for it's microbrew, skipping through a 800 year old breathtaking Cathedral and checking out an old 16th century Chateau for your next visit complete with a tennis court, pool and Grand chef. You can do all of this while tasting at one of 1000's of small producers who most likely sold their liquid gold to the Veuve clicquots of the world who then did some fancy marketing and stuck their pricey price tag on it.

A few Sundays ago that is just what I did with 3 clients of Tasy Side to Life Tours http://www.tastysidetolifetours.com. Picking them up in Paris at 10 am we headed on the road.

In no time and after some great croissants were in their bellies we made it to our first stop. We were Chateau/ hotel viewing in a little town 30 mins from Reims, Courcelles Sur Vesles. My clients wanted to check it out to see if on their next trip they would want to stay the night. We pulled up to the Chateau http://www.chateau-de-courcelles.fr/ on the dirt road that looked to have existed since the Medieval times. We passed the pool, tennis courts and pulled into the parking lot. Immediately we smelled the tantalizing whiff of the kitchen preparing the days meal. We did a quick tour of the rooms, the grounds and talked to the front desk for a little bit. The clients decided to skip the incredible 50 euro grand chef 5 course menu offered here and head into Reims for lunch at a traditional bistro followed by viewing of the Cathedral.

A Beautiful room at Chateau Les Courcelles

After a big traditional Alcase lunch of Choucroute (sauerkraut (aromatic pickled cabbage) served hot with sausage, pork or ham)

washed down with a tasting of the resto's brewed beer (which just won numerous awards) we headed off to the see the Cathedral. It really is a breathtaking site and in my opinion it never gets old. I could tour through it everyday, easily :) After taking in the wonder of the Cathedral we were off to a few tastings.

The 800 year old Cathedral

I'll go through one of the producers we saw during the day. The pictures below are from a small producer Champagne Roger Manceaux. http://www.champagne-roger-manceaux.com/. Each time I choose a producer I make sure he's of top quality. IE that they have won awards or mentioned in the Hachette de Vin.

Champagne Roger Manceaux won awards in the GUIDE HACHETTE DES VINS for 2009 & 2010, was also included in the GUIDE EUVRARD GARNIER 2011 and the GUIDE VINS & TERROIRS AUTHENTIQUES HIVER 2010-2011. So, he's got a good thing going on.

His grapes sit on 13 hectares and his terroir is classified as "Premier Cru". Their champagne is made up of 40 % Pinot noir - 35 % Pinot meunier - 25 % Chardonnay. They produce 49,000 bottles a year and their prices range from 11-25 euro a bottle. Not bad, right? His Champagne is smooth and aromatic with notes of raw fruits. He gave us a great tour of his caves, let us taste Champagne straight from the steel barrels and spent a good hour talking with us (of course his conservation was translated for the clients!).

And the small producer tour begins
Tasting straight from the barrels
Pretty cool shot of the yeast which has yet to be extracted

And the bottle rotating processDetailed description of the "terroir" or land

After our detailed tour and explanation about the Champagne making process now it is time for the tasting

Yummmm

All in all was a great day of tasting and meeting locals from the region and I think quite a change from the normal "le cafard de dimanche"! If you're interested in a trip please email:

Tasty Side To Life Tours

Attn: Sydney Krueger

15 Rue Conservatoire 75009 Paris France

Email: tastysidetolifetours@gmail.com or sydneykrueger@gmail.com

website: www.Tastysidetolifetours.com

Champagne Tasting Trip in France

I had a fantastic time leading another group of clients on a luxurious champagne tasting trip this past Thanksgiving. We had a great day filled with Champagne tastings at various small producers, a 3 hr Michelin star lunch in the middle of the vineyards, a tasting at a foie gras farm and a nights stay to a 17th century Chateau!

My clients day started at 10h at the train station in Reims where the chauffeur and I met them for the start of our journey. The first stop was Rilly La Montagne and we had a 10:30 appt at a small producers Champagne house which was founded in 1872 with 11 hectares and vineyards filled with 60% Chardonnay, 37% Pinor Noir and 3% Pinot Meunier.

This house is actually unique as they are one of the only in the region to harvest their champagne in oak giving it especially interesting notes. We tasted 3 nice and very different cuvees here and briefly saw the oak that the Champagne was resting in. We were lucky to meet some hilarious Brits just finishing their tasting when my clients arrived and had a great talk with them about a new Chateau to add to my list for my clients. I can't wait to visit and recommend!

After commencing our trip and shocking the body a bit with the first taste of bubbly before 12 we moved on to tasting number 2! This second house was equally as small (10 hectares) with a production of 95,000 bottles making up reserves, millesimes, rose's, blanc de blanc's etc. We sat with the owner in the tasting room and tried the blanc de blanc, brut and millieseme which had won numerous awards in the Hachette de Vins 2010. The clients really enjoyed the fruity notes and delicacy to this producers Champagne and walked away with a few bottles here.

Next it was off through the beautiful town of Mailly where my clients were able to see a birds eye view of the region and have a close up look at a picturesque windmill which was used as an observation post during WWI.

Our drive through Milly was followed by a great little lunch at The Grand Cerf http://www.le-grand-cerf.fr/. A 5 course 1 Michelin star lunch for 33 euro was a great break to the day and the food was impressive to say the least. The main course was accompanied by the most velvety potatoes combined with the most beautifully cooked piece of meat I had ever eaten. We started with an amuse bouche, pumpkin soup with fresh cream and toasted almonds, followed by Souffle de Saint Pierre, sauce homardine, filet mignon de porc with mashed potatoes, sauteed leeks and onions, a selection of cheeses and a dessert of caramelized pineapple, a light and airy coconut square and coconut ice-cream in a homemade cone.

After lunch we drove 20 mins to another beautiful small town called Boursault. We passed through Boursault and ended up at our 3rd producers house in Festigny.

At this house we did a full tour of the cellars, saw their caves and had the entire process explained to my clients and myself and the driver translated everything into english. This house had a 5th generation leading the tour (a 26 year old boy). It was incredible to see how early he had started working with the family and how passionate he was about his work.

The day ended with a quick stop in Trelou at a Foie gras farm with 900 ducks where we sampled a few different types of foie gras before driving the clients back to their 17th century Chateau to stay the night and wake up the next day and visit a few of the large corporate houses on their own!

All in all I think my clients, Olga and David, enjoyed a great day of luxury. A perfect little 45 min side trip from Paris complete with secret small producer Champagne purchases, local foie gras, incredible views of small towns and rolling hills of the region and a nights stay in a beautiful Chateau. I can't wait to plan my next trip for tourist coming to France!

If you're coming to France and interested in a luxurious small producer trip to Champagne email me. SydneyKrueger@gmail.com