An overnight in Champagne, the effervescent paradise, an ideal day trip for visitors and locals.
An overnight in champagne, the effervescent paradise, the ideal tour for visitors and locals.
Oct 24-25
We will be collected in Paris by our English-speaking guide, Stephane Tournade of French Wine tours, and transported to Champagne for two days of bubbly pleasure.
Tour of the vineyard and cave followed by tasting of 3 champagnes
Lunch at Café du Palais-Three course meal with appropriate champagnes.
In the Vogt family since 1930 it is a true family affair. The front of the house is overseen by Jean-François and his lovely wife Delphine. His brother-in-law Sébastien also works the floor and sister Isabelle cooks. The dining room is filled with art and hanging sculptures collected over the years.
Maison Fossier- A visit to the maker of the renowned Biscuit de Reims, perfect for dipping into a flute of desert champagne.
Heir of a long line of creators of delicacies for which Reims has become famous, Maison Fossier has managed to conserve and develop the creative mastery which has made its biscuit recipes inevitable gourmet milestones. A traditional biscuit factory, forged by two-and-a-half centuries of history, Fossier is the mother company of the Biscuit Rose de Reims and combines the good taste of past times with today’s savours for the pleasure of modern gourmets.
Guided Tour of the Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral featuring Chagall stained glass.
En route to Epernay we will visit and taste the very special, limited production wines of Champagne Guiborat
Afterward we will check into the elegant Villa Eugène for a restful evening, but not before
Dinner at Le Bistro 7 at Les Berceaux
Our next day will begin with a tasting at René Geoffroy
“The Geoffroy family have been winemakers since the seventeenth century and the property has stayed in the family for almost 400 years, uninterrupted. In addition to prime parcels in Cumières, the family has holdings in Damery, Hautvillers, and Dizy. They aim for the highest possible quality and ferment the wines in oak barrels for their Cuvée Sélectionnée [now called Cuvée Empreinte] and Brut Prestige [now called Cuvée Volupté]. The wines don’t go through malolactic fermentation, which gives them the nerve and aging potential that most Cumières Champagnes lack. When you talk to the well-educated young Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy, you understand that this is a family that cares passionately about wine.
Our appetites now properly stoked we will lunch in Damery Au Bateau Lavoir.
Our final tasting will be at Champagne Le Gallais and then back to Paris.
In 1927, Hachod Fringhian, Charlotte Morgain Le Gallais’ predecessor, bought the Domain of Boursault, formerly owned by Madame Veuve Cliquot.
We will stop at the American WW I cemetery in Chateau Thierry on the route back to Paris and I will be reminded of Josef Roth:
“The earth was turned over, spattered with chunks of limestone, and with mud that oozed up from the depths. There wasn’t a blade of grass or vegetation. Millions of shells rained down. Adivision clung for months to a hillside. And in the distance they saw the silver water of the Somme, and behind it the shining red roofs of Péronne, and on the left the green, blooming land—the other country, enemy country, that they yearned for as for a woman. Now larks fizz through the air; the rain has stopped; the wind has blown away the clouds.
Anyone who didn’t see the war would think this was peace. But I can sense red blood running through the veins of the surviving trees, though the clumps of earth, in the delicate filaments of the leaves… Bent over the landscape, like a general over a map, is God. Unapproachable as a general; remote as a general…” REPORT FROM A PARISIAN PARADISE
Day 1 / Tuesday october 24/ Reims :
8 :00 : Pick up in Paris.
10 :00 : Visit and tasting at Roger Coulon, Vrigny.
12 :30 : Lunch at Café du Palais / Reims
14 :00 : Visit Maison Fossier Biscuit de Reims.
15 :30 : Guided English visit of the Reims Cathedral.
17 :30 : Visit and tasting at Champagne Guiborat / Avize
20 :00 : Dinner at Le Bistro 7 at Les Berceaux
Overnite at Epernay :
Villa Eugène : Superior Rooms with bountiful breakfast
Day 2 / Wednesday october 25 / Epernay
10 :00 : Visit and tasting at René Geoffroy
12 :30 : Lunch at Damery (« Au Bateau Lavoir »).
14 :30 : Visit and tasting at Champagne Le Gallais / Boursault
17 :00 : American cemetery / Chateau Thierry
19 :30 : Drop off in Paris.
925 euros per person double occupancy
1050 euros single occupancy
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