A day in Epernay (and Hautevillers)

Day number four started off bright and early with a nice traditional French breakfast at the hotel. We had learned the night before that the village of Hautevillers, the supposed home of Dom Perignon the monk, was a mere 6 km away, and a 10euro cab ride. Our pleasant cab driver dropped us off in front of the tourist office in Hautevillers, where we purchased a walking tour map, and set off to enjoy the scenery.



















The village was full of quaint houses, with lots of flowers and cute signs above the doors. We visited the chapel that was part of the abbey with Dom P lived, and then ventured out to the vineyards. Heading back into town we decided to stop for some tastings, and were pleasantly surprised that many of the small wineries in the town offered free tastings, and very reasonably priced bottles. We went to three houses. I don't remember much about the first one, but the second seemed like someone's house. We were greeted at the door by who we think was the daughter and her dog, and she promptly started pouring us glasses of their different champagnes. After tasting all that they had to offer, Erik and I bought a bottle of their Abbatiale, which was delicious (Erik kept calling it abbatoir, which apparently means slaughterhouse. The owner didn't seem to think it was funny).

We quickly headed to one more that we were interested in, and got there right before they closed. They also generously poured samples for us, and we all bought bottles from them. Both champagnes that we tried were not available in stores, and it was fun to visit a different kind of champagne house, as both were clearly family run, and the people serving us had a lot invested in their product. A nice change to the 'big box' champagne houses in Reims and Epernay.


















We grabbed a cab back into town, and had lunch at a nice little cafe (named the cafe Paris). After lunch we headed to what was supposed to be the best tour in all of the region!

Drum roll please...it was Moet et Chandon.

One of their vineyards in Hautevillers

Now, you have to realize, that we're a little bit spoiled by this point. And we've already had about 6 glasses of champagne, and it's barely 2:00. And, group tours are just not that fun when you're used to personalized attention of a private tour.

Nancy's hero

Anyway, Moet et Chandon was beautiful. They own and produce the Dom Perignon champagne, and they had a statue of him in their courtyard. The house was beautiful, and the cellars were some of the nicer ones that we'd seen, but by this point, we really didn't need a tour. But we had a very knowledgeable and pleasant guide, so we sucked it up, and made it through to the tasting (it's hard work!).

Rows and rows of Dom Perignon

We did learn that Dom Perignon is never aged with a metal cap. Our guide was reluctant to talk too much about this prestigious brand, because there is a separate tour for it (Steve and Christy, are you interested??), but we specifically asked about these corks, so he had to tell us. This stuff is aged for ages in the cellar, and unsurprisingly, was the priciest that we saw in all the boutiques.

We made it through to the tasting where we tasted two of their millenium champagnes, and I think that's when we reached our limit. I was done. That brought the total up to 8 glasses that morning, plus a lot of sun and walking, and we were beat. Not as beat as the woman we saw passed out on some cushions outside the boutique, but that's another story.

We said goodbye to the land of the bubbly, and headed for the train station. The train was packed, and the only place we could find room for all of us was in first class, so we rode back to Paris in fear of getting kicked out (Daryl was going to handle any problems. Do you speak English? was our motto. We had the LP prominently displayed). Alas, all our worries were unfounded, and we made it safely back to Paris in the comfort of our private first class cabin.

And so ends our adventures in Champagne. I deliberately plan my route through the grocery store now so I can ogle the champagnes. Of the four bottles we bought, three have been drunk. Did we mention that Nancy and Daryl bought four magnums? We're so proud of them.

I hear they make a lovely foot rest :)