(Reims, France)

August 8 was a much better day.  It began with guided tours of two different champagne houses; a great way to learn about the famous drink that can only be made here.  Sparkling wine from anywhere else (or sparkling wine made here but not in accordance with the strict rules) cannot legally be called “champagne”.  The principles of champagne-making were essentially the same at both houses but the presentation was quite different.

I began with a tour of the Vranken-Pommery Champagne House (see photo at top of this post). This appeared to be a more traditional and higher-end champagne house. Their website claims that their champagne is ranked number two in the world…but that their rose is actually number one.  While the tour cost was a little higher than some other Reims tours, I discovered that a “standard” bottle of Pommery champagne costs more than C$60.00 in the on-site shop.

We descended 60 metres below the ground and were shown a portion of their extensive cellars: they have 18 km of cellars and millions of bottles. It was very difficult to take meaningful pictures because of the dim light but it was certainly very atmospheric.  After the stifling heat and humidity outside, it was also very comfortable in the cellars as the temperature remains constant at 10’C throughout the year.  We even saw champagne in huge 9-litre bottles and a collection of extra-old vintages that are still aging from as far back as 1874.

In addition to the cellars, there are several “portals” (60 metres high) that reach up to the ground level from the tunnel network.  Vranken-Pommery has installed some art in these oddly shaped spaces as they cannot be used to store champagne.

In the afternoon, I visited the G H Martel champagne caves.  This tour was a little less expensive even though it provided 3 (somewhat smaller) tastings instead of one.  However, it turns out that these caves are no longer used by Martel for champagne as they have a new facility in nearby Epernay.  The Martel caves in Reims are more like a museum:  I didn’t mind, as the lighting was much better and I had already seen a working cave in the morning.   The Martel tour was also considerably shorter and started with a video, so it was less of an experience than the Pommery tour.

The new Martel facility is almost entirely mechanized, while the Pommery facility is still labour intensive.  The Pommery bottles are still turned by hand in order to deal with the sediment that accumulates during the yeast-induced carbonation process.   This may be one reason why Martel’s products are considerably less expensive (about C$35 per bottle) than the Pommery products.

And what about the results of the tasting?  The time gap between tastings made it very difficult to compare between the two houses, although I preferred the sweeter champagnes to the drier ones at Martel.  Pommery is certainly marketed as a more upscale product, so for the casual champagne drinker it may simply be a question of image.  While I don’t think I will become more of a champagne drinker (I actually prefer the cider that I’ve had with my dinners here in Reims), at least I now understand a bit of what the champagne fuss is all about.

The day didn’t end with the champagne tours.  I also managed to see another UNESCO World Heritage Site (Basilique Saint-Remi) and to discover that there was a professional soccer game in town that evening.  The basilica was similar to the cathedral I saw the day before, except that there weren’t as many people.  As for the soccer game, it requires a separate entry and so I’ll report on that in my next posting.