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| Tourism and Gastronomy Champagne - a living legend! By E. Tresmontant With the festive season just around the corner, the time has come to rediscover the magic of real, fine champagne! Our selection presents a certain conception of champagne: from the small independent winegrower to the great export company, the producers we met are all enthusiasts. Vine cultivation, respect of the environment, art of assemblage (blending), and search for perfection make their champagnes real works of art, and good value for money.
A potted history of champagne Just 1hr 30 min from Paris and 3 hr from Calais and Brussels, Épernay, the wine capital of Champagne, is still more than ever a crossroads of gourmet Europe. Before setting off to war in Austria, Prussia or Russia, Napoleon never failed to stop off at Épernay where Jean-Rémy Moët (manager of the Moët house founded in 1743) had two sumptuous houses built to accommodate him and his entourage. After being pillaged for centuries by armies from all over Europe (Hundred Years' War, Thirty Years' War, fall of the Empire in 1815, First and Second World Wars), Champagne, fortunately, today sees nothing other than squads of enthusiastic connoisseurs, battalions of professionals and corps of journalists passing through!
Champagne is to be explored in the morning, with its sharp, fresh air, clear skies and chalky cliffs. Lost between vineyards and forest, the Abbaye de Hautvillers is still inhabited by the memory of Dom Pérignon (1638-1715), the Benedictine monk who, according to legend, invented champagne. In reality, champagne was invented over the centuries and is the result of much research and experimentation. First a “still” wine (without bubbles), it did not become effervescent until the 18th century when it was discovered that carbon dioxide was created by adding a little sugar. Thanks to coal, the English then invented a bottle capable of withstanding the pressure of gas. However the “prise de mousse” (formation of bubbles) was not definitively mastered until 1896, when the role of yeast was understood. In the 19th century, the Russians loved very sweet (dosé) champagne, which is why it was for a long time considered a dessert wine. It was not until the late 19th century that the English taste for dry champagne as an aperitif established itself. This was fortunate, since it forced producers to improve the quality of their wines, whose defects had until then been hidden by sugar...
 Outstanding terroirs Our selection takes into account the diversity of Champagne's historic terroirs. The Montagne de Reims, where Pinot Noir dominates, produces wines that are more or less robust and full-bodied. The champagnes of the Marne Valley, stronghold of Pinot Meunier, are more round and fruity. Lastly the Côte des Blancs, reputed for its Chardonnay, produces fresh and elegant champagnes.
Tarlant: sensuality The Tarlant family has been cultivating vines in Champagne since 1687, and now brings together four generations of winegrowers. Their estate is at Oeilly, 15 km (9 miles) from Épernay, on the historic terroirs of the Marne Valley. This site presents a mosaic of different soils (chalk, sand and fossil) and benefits from a microclimate. The Tarlants protect their vineyards and its ecosystem by using ancestral methods (organic fertilizers, grassing down, limited yields), which enable them to obtain very healthy grapes. All their champagnes made from old vines are matured in casks.
The basic cuvée (or batch) is “Brut Zéro” (non dosé or sugar-free, 20 euros*) which is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Natural, with a pure bouquet, aromas of honey and lemon, and a lively taste of citrus fruit freshness, it is an “everyday” champagne which goes perfectly with oysters and sushi. Tarlant is also to our knowledge the only estate in Champagne, along with Bollinger, to possess a parcel of vines that survived phylloxera. The vines in question are ungrafted Chardonnay vines, which make you imagine what a 100% Chardonnay was like in the 19th century! The elegance and purity of this “La Vigne d'Antan” cuvée (harvests of 1998-1999, 30 euros) are wonderful. The Tarlants have also developed a champagne that is 100% Pinot Meunier, a grape variety that is emblematic of the Marne Valley. Generous and spicy, it belies its reputation as a “rustic” grape variety (“La Vigne d'Or” cuvée, harvest of 1999, 30 euros). The Tarlants' prestigious cuvée however remains the “Cuvée Louis” (harvests of 1996-1997, 30 euros). Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes from the finest parcels have been selected to produce this exceptional, powerful and complex champagne with a golden yellow colour and nose of almonds.
Larmandier-Bernier: purity The Côte des Blancs has been made famous over the last ten years by a handful of enthusiastic winegrowers, with at the forefront Anselme Sélosse in Avize. This pioneer of “viticulture raisonnée” (the application of principles minimising chemical use in the vineyard) was also the first, in the early 1980s, to reintroduce the use of oak casks, which had been abandoned after the war in favour of stainless steel vats. Available in most of the great gourmet restaurants in France, Sélosse champagnes are savoured above all as fine and harmonious wines. Sadly, there is nothing left for sale at the estate! If you are in search of authenticity, then we recommend that you head for the village of Vertus, 19 km (12 miles) from Épernay and home to a couple of exceptional winegrowers: Pierre and Sophie Larmandier. Their 15 ha (37 acres) of vines are located on the Grand Cru terroirs of Cramant, Chouilly, Oger and Avize.
From the outset these winegrowers re-established practices that respect the land, like ploughing, which encourages the soil's microbic life, and deep rooting. “The more the vine digs into the soil, the better able it is to restore the mineral wealth of the land”, explains Pierre Larmandier. These pure and expressive champagnes stand apart from the rest on account of their balance, generosity and incredibly fine bubbles! Matured in casks and on lees during the winter, they are bottled in the spring and kept between 3 and 8 years in a cellar hollowed out of the chalk. The “Terre de Vertus” cuvée (non dosée or sugar-free, 22 euros), made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, is fresh and clean and goes well with a carpaccio of sea bass or smoked wild salmon.
Éric Rodez: generosity 22 km (14 miles) from Épernay, the medieval village of Ambonnay is famous for its Grands Crus from the Côte des Blancs. Here you will come across several winegrowers, among them Éric Rodez, who is still underrated in France. This trained oenologist began his career with Krug, where he acquired a knowledge of assemblage (blending) that has earned him the admiration of his peers. Very close to the soil and the vines which he cultivates with the patience of a saint, he does not however believe that organic viticulture is 100% possible in Champagne, because “sadly chemicals are still essential to combat mildew** and other blights of this kind”. Éric Rodez champagnes, made from very low yields, are all vinified in oak casks and unfiltered. For assemblage, he has recourse to 6 or 7 different vintages and uses vins de réserve (reserved wines from previous vintages) which have not undergone malolactic fermentation. His champagnes thus offer a concentration, complexity and elegance that are quite astounding. The 100% Chardonnay (very lively) and 100% Pinot Noir (more round) are both powerful, with a taste that fills the palate with a bouquet of citrus fruit. The wonderful “Cuvée des Grands Vintages” (60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay) is a combination of the greatest vintages. The value for money speaks for itself, with prices starting at 17 euros 25 cents. So many reasons to come to Ambonnay, all the more so since Eric Rodez champagnes, a large number of them reserved for export, are very difficult to come by in France!
Bollinger: grand style Bollinger is not just the champagne of James Bond and Prince Charles, it is also the last great champagne house to have retained total financial independence. Since its foundation on the Montagne de Reims in 1829, the Bollinger house, today run by Ghislain de Montgolfier, continues to make and mature its champagnes as it always has done: as a family. Its aim each year is to manage to create the famous Bollinger style embodied by the “Spécial Cuvée”: a fine champagne with a nose of brioche, whose depth is due to the predominance of Pinot Noir. Whatever the harvest and quality of the vintage, Bollinger's maître de chais (cellar master) must, through his knowledge of assemblage, be able to recreate this bouquet of aromas. For this, he will notably have recourse to the 300,000 vins de réserve kept in magnums for 10 years and which, reflecting the best Grands Crus of Champagne, constitute an “oenothèque” (wine collection) without equal.
The immense cellar hollowed out beneath the streets of Aÿ is therefore the shrine where one of the most famous champagnes is made. Here we discovered a totally artisanal method, which contrasts with the technological means customarily used in big champagne houses. Bollinger is thus the only house in Champagne to employ a cooper, who is responsible for making and repairing 350 casks per year! Indeed, Bollinger has never stopped maturing its wines in casks, in the belief that only wood enables measured oxidation, development of aromas and long preservation of wines. Its champagnes then age for at least 3 years in bottles before being put on the market.
But the Bollinger legend is also based on the famous RD concept invented in 1951, which stands for “récemment dégorgé” (recently disgorged). The aim of the operation is to remove the deposit which has accumulated on the bottom of the corks of vintage champagnes. It is a delicate operation, carried out entirely by hand, which allows the wines to gain in freshness and longevity (an RD ages in a bottle for 8 years and can be kept for almost a century!). As for Bollinger's “Les Vieilles Vignes Françaises”, they constitute a real myth for all champagne connoisseurs, revolving around a tiny parcel of Pinot Noir planted in front of the Bollinger house in Aÿ, which mysteriously survived phylloxera. Ploughed and dug by hand, these vines from another age produce barely 3,000 bottles per year of a sublime wine with aromas of honey and toast. The price (400 euros for the 1996) is commensurate with this outstanding wine... The more affordable “Spécial Cuvée” champagne (38 euros) is a festive wine which can also be drunk with simple dishes. Try it with a Roquefort mousse served with salad, button mushrooms stuffed with grated Gruyère, or even a blanquette de veau à l'ancienne (veal stew in white sauce). * One euro is worth approximately 0.67 GBP. ** A vine disease caused by a fungus. Reminder: it is illegal to drive with a level of alcohol equal to or above 0.5 grams per litre of blood, i.e. approximately two glasses of wine.
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