Pop...Le Champagne

It is no secret that my friends and I like a drop of the sparkling...Frank insisted we come to the home of Champagne. We caught the French express train, TGV, to Reims.

Moet was closed

Many Champagne houses in Reims are closed at this time of year, Europe's winter, so we left Reim's and headed to Epernay seeing some beautiful French country side along the way. We hired a car - I thought the Tower of Terror at Disney was scary; hiring a car in Europe is way more hairy (it's okay getting out of the city it's trying to find your way back in).

Rocco finally got to kick his soccer ball Rocco finally got to kick his soccer ball

We managed to find a Champagne house open in Epernay and asked where we should go next. We were advised to see Ambonnay and the aptly named, Bouzy. Next morning we followed what we thought was a tourist bus, thinking we could jump in on their tour, turns out it was the French equivalent of Transperth and all the passengers were laughing because they knew we were following them. And no champagne! Just when you think everything has turned to crap you happen upon a oasis in the middle of the desert...Phillipe!

I stumbled into Laurent Perrier tired and thirsty for Champagne. Enter Phillipe...Frank was entertaining the boys in the car park ie. trying to stop them from breaking 1000 year old statues. I asked if they had a tasting...real French women (ie. not Parisian's) debated animatedly about the possibly and oui...c'est possible. Then voila enter Phillipe - so well dressed and he says you would like a tour and I indicate out the window to Frank and boys, grappling a century old statue and Phillipe says, 'please bring them up'. What followed defies description, Phillipe gives us a private tour of of the cellars of Laurent -Perrier.

Phillipe left us with a fabulous book and other memoirs of our visit. Other tours followed...among them Taittinger, Pommery - quite commercial. Disappointing was Roederer - I have long thought of Cristal as my favourite Champagne -but they were not hospitable. The staff wanted to know our connection in the industry but in a way that is really up themselves. 'Laurent-Perrier' is my new favourite Champagne!