We returned to the car, still at the hotel, and set out for our next destination: Reims. Now when I told people that we were taking a couple days out specifically to visit Reims, France, they were incredulous, "Why Reims?". Initially this caught me off guard because, as lovers of sparkling wine, why wouldn't we want to visit the Champagne region in France?! Apparently, not everyone is as crazy for the bubbly as we are. :)
The drive to Reims was, thankfully, uneventful. But I must say that it was very beautiful as we made our way across the French countryside and soon found ourselves in 'wine country'. I don't know what it is but I love seeing grapes on the vine and this time was no exception. We also noticed several villages comprised of small brick buildings that dotted the rolling hills that were covered with neat rows of grapevines.
Arriving in Reims we initially thought disaster had struck: our hotel appeared to be a building that had obviously been out of commission for some time. After rechecking the GPS directions we were still driving around trying to figure out what was happening. Apparently, Google Maps was a bit off on this one and thankfully we found our hotel to be non-dilapidated and in operation! Soon after we checked in and set off to explore the town and get something to eat. Since we were in the holy land of Champagne we had to start off with a couple glasses of the bubbly stuff that had been made right down the road. :) After wandering around town and grabbing dinner we headed back to the hotel and crashed hard.
The following day we hunted down a vineyard where we could take a last minute tour : Dom Caudron. Outside of town about twenty minutes we drove right to the place and spent a few minutes in their front corridor taking in the old school winery equipment that was formerly used to make the ever famous Champagne. Outside they even had some of the equipment fitted as flower planters. :)
Soon after we were ushered into a smallish, modern movie theater where we watched a video describing the Dom Caudron process of making wine. The description took us through the growth and harvest of the grapes; I find it amazing that even in the modern age the grapes clusters are hand cut over just ten days when they are prime for the picking. We also learned that after the grapes have been pressed and the wine is poured into the bottles, depending on what you're after, the bottles sit for different amounts of time, in the dark, only briefly disturbed during this process to be turned 180 degrees. I know this may not be news to anyone else but I find it fascinating! :)
Next we were taken through one of the buildings where the grapes are crushed in huge machines. I couldn't imagine stepping back in time and using the much smaller, manual predecessors that we saw in the museum section of the winery. And yet people have been making wine via a relatively similar process for centuries. This is incredible to me. :)
We also got to see inside one of the processing areas that housed mammoth storage tanks (500 hectoliter = 50,000 liters), stacks of oak barrels for aging specific wines and row upon row of crates housing the precious bubbly until it's ready to be distributed.
Lastly, we had the opportunity to taste four different types of champagne that had been grown and processed there. We started with an unexpectedly delicious liqueor, Ratafia Rose. Light and sweet I was definitely a fan. Next we moved on to Cuvee Vieilles Vignes that had been harvested from what are considered "old vines" more than fifty years old. As you might expect they produce less fruit than younger vines and their fruit tends to be a bit sweeter. Third, we tried Cuvee Millesimee that comprises a half and half mixtures of Chardonnay and Meunier grapes aged in oak barrels. While I suffer no delusions that I know anything about wine each of these gems we tried most definitely had a distinctive taste. With this one you could taste the 'oakiness' from the barrels which gave the champagne a pleasant and interesting depth. Since I don't know the appropriate words to describe wine flavor I'm using anything I can think of to describe our experience! :) In the end our fourth pick was one that the woman running the place recommended: Cuvee Cornalyne. One hundred percent Meunier grapes aged in oak barrels and it was delicious! I would never expect to enjoy this wine if you had described it to me but alas, I love unexpected delightful surprises. :)
Driving back to town we decided to stop at a chocolatier we had glimpsed on a flier. Upon arriving we soon realized that we had a small problem: the woman didn't speak English and let's face it our French is laughable at best. Thankfully, she was very nice and somehow we managed to piece together the chocolates that we wanted to try. She even gave us samples to nibble while we perused the industrial chocolate making equipment (e.g. mixers, molds) that could be seen from the front of the shop. We left with several bags of scrumptious goodies that included milk chocolates with creamy chocolate ganache - I'm a simple girl, admittedly. :) In addition we had some dark chocolate beauties in the shape of wine corks, of course, that were filled with, wait for it, cognac. Just in case you wanted to take a shot and get your chocolate fix at the same time. And we weren't able to escape the placed without a few thin slices of chocolate in the shape of Pringles potato chips that were infused with orange zest. Needless to say these treats didn't last long.
So how I cam sum up our time in France? It was crazy (driving to La Rochelle), rushed (Paris) and unfortunately, we encountered many people who confirmed the "French are snooty" stereotype. But in the end Reims was a lovely, relaxed window of time spent in France and we are so glad that we decided to include it in our itinerary. Cheers to that!
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