When you think of Wine, France inevitably comes to mind. And when you think of French Wine, the first thing you think about is Champagne, synonymous of celebration and sophistication. Therefore, for this first itinerary I have chosen the Champagne Route in France, whose vineyards, Houses and Wineries are World Heritage Sites.
Deserved in Victory, Required in Defeat
Napoleon
It all starts in Reims, which in our 4 Latas (name with which the Renault 4 is popularly known) took us about 2 and a half hours from Paris. In addition to Champagne, Reims is very famous for its extraordinary Gothic Cathedral, which is filled with an impressive light of all colors that makes its way through its beautiful stained glass. Mandatory the visit of this Unesco World Heritage monument, where the consecration of all the Kings of France were made and where Clovis I was baptized, being the first Barbarian King converted to Catholicism. Somehow we can say that with this small and apparently insignificant act, Clovis became one of the main “responsible” for this side of the world to be Catholics. Reims together with Épernay, where we will go later, are the capitals of the Champagne Wine.
Well, what we came for!!! First we went to the Taittinger House, a winery that still retains its family business spirit. There we toured its splendid underground cellars built by the Benedictine monks of “Saint-Nicaise”. Located 18 meters underground and don’t know how many kilometers of labyrinths and passages, it is despite the cold, a really wonderful place where the secrets and soul of this wonderful house are discovered.
¿What’s next? Of course the long-awaited tasting!!! Upon leaving the heart of the cellars we prepared to taste the various expressions of the Taittinger style. The tasting included 3 different types of Champagne; Brut Réserve, Prestige Rosé and Prelude. However, the bubbles made its expected effect and after several drinks, the person in charge of the visit ends up offering us two more wines of two completely different styles; these included a Millésimé, along with the most Top of the Casa-Comtes de Champagne; obviously none of the two included in the initial package.
An indescribably wonderful experience with very warm people. The French have a certain “reputation” of being arrogant and unfriendly; I don’t know if it was the effects of the bubbles, but this was not the case here. Moreover, in my experience I can say that this myth is quite unfounded. Not only here, but several times, I have discovered that the French are attentive people. As they well say in the Winery, “at Taittinger we cultivate vines, not egos.”
From Reims we continue the journey in our blue 4 Latas towards the Côte des Blancs region, famous for the Chardonnay grape grown there, which together with Pinot Noir and Pinot Menier, are the three varieties used to make Champagne. But this is another new story, which we will see in the following article.
I hope you liked this first part, thank you very much for giving me some of your time. See you later, Chao!!!!!!!