A “Bucket List” Trip to Champagne France

wine

By Jim Peterson

Wine Enthusiast & Instagram Wine Influencer

Returning to Champagne for a third visit, nearly 20 years after my first visit, had all the potential to be more incredible than both of those amazing trips combined. Two of my greatest wine experiences happened on those first two trips; the first being hosted by Moët & Chandon for an overnight stay at the Moët family estate Château de Saran, and the second being a private lunch with Le Comte Audoin de Dampierre (Count Dampierre) and his wife the Countess. How do you top those? Well…read on because this trip did all that and more.

EXCLUSIVE ACCESS

​I had experienced some exclusive access in my prior trips, but this trip to Champagne brought that to an entirely different level. The trip was organized by Gina Lyons, an Instagram friend, Champagne influencer, and founder of a new small business “A Vine Affair” with a focus on all things Champagne. Gina and I had traded stories about our experiences in Champagne back in the Fall of 2021 on an Instagram Live broadcast, and when she broke the news she was putting together a travel experience to mirror the very types of things we were describing, I immediately resolved to sign up. Much to my delight, she made it happen.

Gina arranged for me to visit 12 Champagne houses in 5 days, including an array of exclusive meetings, tours, lunches, and dinners with owners, chefs de caves (cellar masters), and other hosts. Along the way we stayed at the 5-star Royal Champagne Spa & Hotel and the Residence Eisenhower (where General Eisenhower briefly stayed after World War II). The best part? All I had to do was show up. If you have a notion of what it takes to arrange these things, that is a huge bonus.

THE CHAMPAGNE HOUSES

When Gina released the list of house visits, including several of my favorites (but none I had previously visited), I was beyond excited. I should note my previous article on Champagne, Champagne – Bottled Happiness, has a full explanation of the differences between Maisons and Growers, along with a good primer on how champagne is made. Rather than cover that ground again, I am going to focus on the overall experience aspect. What’s life without the occasional vicarious glimpse into a little VIP glamour?

DAY 1 – CHAMPAGNE PIERRE GIMONNET & FILS

Gimonnet is a small grower-producer that focuses solely on Chardonnay grapes. Their view is so picturesque, a TV show was setting up to film an episode while we were there. We were hosted by owner Didier Gimonnet, who walked us through 12 different wines while discussing his approach to winemaking. For the last bottle Didier surprised us with a vintage 1970 Brut Champagne. Can you imagine tasting a 52-year-old champagne? Talk about starting off the trip with a bang!

LUNCH AT HOTEL LES AVIZES

Les Avizes is a quaint hotel owned by Champagne Jacque Selosse. Selosse is an insanely exclusive, hard-to-find (and expensive) champagne. We tasted three beautifully oxidative styled Selosse champagnes with lunch. The “Les Carelles” champagne was decanted, highlighting its delicate perlage which caressed the palate with hints of lemons and almonds. This bottle sells for about $900 in the United States (if you can find it). We were awestruck by it.

CHAMPAGNE GEOFFROY

The delightfully charismatic Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy greeted us, and he immediately took us out to what he said was the “best view in Aÿ” for pictures. He explained some of his trellising techniques in a vineyard visit, then he surprised us in the cellar tour by disgorging and pouring a vintage 2016 he had not yet tasted since its second fermentation. Wow! Jean-Baptiste’s grower champagnes are richly flavored and as fun as the owner himself.

DAY 2 – CHAMPAGNE MARC HÉBRART

This was an extra grower visit I had selected, and I was happily joined by a few others from our group. I love the Hébrart wines, but none of the others had tried them. It was a thrill seeing others discover why I had been so excited about this visit. I walked away with a 2015 Rive Gauche Grand Cru Extra Brut. This 50/50 Pinot Noir-Chardonnay wine enthralled me with its pillowy mousse and racy flavors of baked pear and toasted nuts. Spectacular.

CHAMPAGNE BILLECART-SALMON

As ubiquitous as Billecart-Salmon champagne may seem, they are actually one of the smaller Maisons. For me, as a longtime fan, this was like a dream, sipping their champagne and enjoying a light lunch of multiple hors d’oeuvres in the beautifully appointed château gardens. Everything here is so clean and detailed; they even have both a shrubbery and a tasting bar in the shape of their logo. The highlight was Mathieu Roland-Billecart surprising us with a magnum 1999 Cuvée Nicolas François champagne he immediately opened. Tasting a premier cuvée with a little age – complex, nutty, vibrant – was special.

CHAMPAGNE FREREJEAN FRÈRES

Just when I thought it could not get any better, we met the Frerejean brothers for a tasting overlooking their vineyards in Avize. That was just the start. Back at the château, we sipped a vintage 2012 in the cool, dank cellar.  Later, we found our way to a gourmet dinner in another part of the caves where they paired champagnes with exquisitely prepared dishes of salmon, eggplant, and beef tenderloin. The true fun came with a barnacle-covered bottle of 2008 Cuvée des Hussards, which had been aged under the sea for several years. Yes. Under the sea.

DAY 3 – CHAMPAGNE BOLLINGER

Bollinger prides itself on its five pillars of greatness: The House Vineyards, Pinot Noir, Magnums of Reserve Wines, The Barrels, and Time. The Crown of England awarded Bollinger the Royal Warrant in 1884 (the royal emblem you see on every bottle), and of course our favorite wine-loving British secret agent, James Bond, has been sipping Bollinger since “Live and Let Die.” The Bollinger champagnes are deep and subtle with a creamy effervescence from vinification in the oak barrels (which are made and maintained onsite.) We heard the amazing history and tasted the stellar wines highlighted by the 2004 R.D. Extra Brut. The “R.D.” means Recently Disgorged; a trend started by Bollinger where they hold back some of the vintage bottles to be disgorged and released at a later date.

CHAMPAGNE MOUSSÉ FILS

Moussé Fils is a unique grower house in the tiny village of Cuisles where Pinot Meunier is the dominant grape grown.

Cedric Moussé has one of the coolest tasting rooms you will ever see, and he is unbelievably enthusiastic and welcoming.

We sipped his amazing wines while dining on small plate dishes cooked on a brasero grill for lunch – with a foie gras dish and a succulent pork chop that would rival any Michelin star restaurant. I did not want to leave!

 

CHAMPAGNE TAITTINGER DINNER AT CHÂTEAU DE LA MARQUETTERIE

Entering Château de la Marquetterie is like being in an episode of Downton Abbey where they took my jacket, escorted me to the garden, and promptly placed a glass of champagne in my hand. The dinner consisted of several courses with French names I could neither pronounce nor understand, but they were certainly delicious. Paired with Taittinger champagnes, the highlight was the 2011 Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs. Pure and exquisite.

 

DAY 4 – CHAMPAGNE VILMART & CIE

After a brief stop at a unique antique store in Hautvillers, we started Day 4 at another top grower-producer, Vilmart & Cie. There is a great dichotomy between the Teutonic German exterior of the house and the sublimely French elegance of the champagnes. Laurent Champs, the fifth generation of the family to take the helm of the house, walked us through the operation and then shared his unbelievably delicious wines in yet another crazy cool tasting room. We were most excited to taste the rare vintage Emotion Rosé, which is nearly impossible to find stateside. There is one in my cellar now…

 

DAY 5 – CHAMPAGNE CHARLES HEIDSECK

Gina perhaps saved the best for the last day. Without a doubt there are no better caves (or crayéres – chalk pits dug out by the Romans 2,000 years ago) than those owned by Charles Heidseck. Like many houses on this trip, these are not open to the public. These caves are home to the iconic bottle shaped cut-out, a shape now adopted in their bottles. As amazing as the caves are, the wines are equally transcendent. Our guide pulled a 1990 “Mis en Cave” magnum during the tour to open later. “Champagne Charlie” as he was nicknamed by the Americans was the first to bring champagne to the US on a large scale back in the mid-1800s. We all owe “Charlie” a great debt.

 

CHAMPAGNE PAUL BARA

Paul Bara is a small grower-producer from Bouzy, with all Grand Cru vineyards. This was another side visit I arranged with one other person from the group. This was fantastic with just the two of us, exploring their cramped cellar, and then tasting the tantalizing 2007 Annonciade. There were only 1,000 bottles produced, and I am blessed to have one.

 

CHAMPAGNE LOUIS ROEDERER – CRISTAL DINNER

We were fortunate to spend time with the genius chef de caves, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, the man behind all the Louis Roederer wines – including the famed Cristal Champagne, the favored champagne of both Russian Tsars and rappers! After a cellar tour and a brief tasting we walked to the Roederer-owned L’Hotel Particulier for an exquisite dinner paired with 2014, 2008, and 1993 Cristal. We ended with the rare 2012 Cristal Rosé. It is hard to convey the magnificence of a dinner like this. Tasting these four wines in one sitting automatically makes this the best Champagne dinner of my life.

 

SO…DID WE TOP THAT?

I hope you enjoyed this vicarious look into my wine life. For many years I thought I could never surpass my earlier visits to Champagne. I was so wrong. I am still in awe when I look back. I tasted over one hundred different champagnes during this trip. For a wine geek like me, it just seems insane that I experienced these things. I would only note that this type of trip is not for the casual vacationer. It was an immersive experience, and it required some physical exertion during the vineyard visits and traversing the stairs in the caves.

​As for champagne recommendations, you will not go wrong trying any of these producers. I would also encourage you to check out my posts and reels about this trip on Instagram. They capture the spirit and amazing nature of this experience very well – including the fun video of Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy disgorging the champagne in the cellar. Truly unforgettable.

 

Cheers to you all!

 

Follow Jim on Instagram, @tx_wine_pilot, for more wine tips and reviews.

 

Biography:

Jim Peterson is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who mainly flew the A-10 fighter jet. He has ties to the wine business going back over 20 years and is an avid wine collector. His extensive wine knowledge includes travel to many wine regions while living in Europe, tastings led by Master Sommeliers and winemakers, along with ongoing personal wine exploration and self-study. He has cultivated a large following on his Instagram account, @tx_wine_pilot, tasting and reporting on wines from vintage to value. He now works in marketing and resides in San Antonio, Texas.