I’m back in Sydney and have had a hectic week settling into routine again. Finishing off these last few blogs and cleaning up the pictures reminds me how lucky I was to have been gifted this opportunity. Since I’ve been home I’ve been to a tasting with Peter Bourne and some of my fellow contestants…
Par-eee
After the non-stop activity of Champagne, the last weekend in Paris was comparitively languorous. lan’guor·ous; adj. a dreamy, lazy mood or quality. Even so, we got to see the main tourist sights, namely the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame. Before we had gone to Le Parc in Reims, Annette had booked a lunch at the 1-starred…
All good things…
…must come to an end – and today was our last day in the region, before heading back to Paris for the weekend (tough). Out final tasting was at Veuve Clicquot and involved a tour of their Roman crayèrs (I think they’re the most extensive of any house) and a tasting with the house’s head…
Double Take Thursday
I’m nearing the end of this fabulous adventure and there are only a couple of days left in before I head home to real life. We’ve started to get the question “Are you both tired of Champagne yet?” – “Of course not!” is the general response, but to be honest, the luxurious hospitality of the…
Troyes & Mongueux (abridged)
I woke up this morning with the sickening realisation that I’ve not been writing a light-hearted, occasionally funny and insightful blog (believe it or not, my aim), but insipid indoctrinations about planting densities and vineyard sizes that only I would find interesting. Please accept my humblest apologies. For those of you still reading along, having…
The Côte des Bar (pt. 2)
Continues (exhaustingly) from pt.1. Champagne Devaux Champagne Devaux is a co-operative with 1,000ha of member-owned vineyards. This is a different type of Champagne producer, and perhaps I’ve been remiss in not explaining them to you. The 3 main type of producers are: Negociants (NM = négociant manipulant) These are large houses that may own vineyards,…
The Côte des Bar (pt. 1)
Today was a massive day. I don’t expect you to read all of it, in fact I may remove a lot of what’s below (particularly the technical stuff about the wines, which I’m sure is skipped over by all) and put it in a second blog labeled: “Wine-Geeks only”. We had an early start, meeting…
Bollinger
Following lunch, we drove from Monchenot to Ay to visit the house of Bollinger. On the way, we learnt that the vines that create the patches of brown in the landscape are Pinot and the yellower ones are Chardonnay. We’re very fortunate to be here at this time, where such a distinction can be made….
On the road again
First of all a bit of a shout out to those at home whose birthdays I’m missing. Happy birthday for the 4th Zoe, hope you had a great night with the crew. Although I’m sure you’re sad I could not be there, be comforted by the fact that I’m drinking to your health (10 or…
“Rest” day
Thankfully, today was a day off from lunches or visits and I had a chance to sleep in. As I’m sure you’re all assuming, blogging of this quality can only come to fruition with long hours and late nights chained to the MacBook. You’re right (and you’re welcome). A late breakfast at the Hotel de…
Reims
Today we leave the town of Épernay and travel north to the historic city of Reims, known equally for its gothic cathedral and that fact that it is almost impossible to pronounce. We’ve learnt that if you’re doing it right, it sounds surprsingly close to clearing your throat. To make our way there, instead of…
Happy Birthday Jack
Champagne (and all wine for that matter) is an agricultural product. I know amidst the glitz and glamour of Moët’s marketing it’s easy to forget – but without the vines that have been planted, patiently tended and painstakingly harvested we’d never be able to enjoy it. So to get into the vineyards today helped me…
warrellwine 