Veuve Clicquot Tour
Although my stay at Reims was short, I booked a Veuve Clicquot tour at 10:15. The complex is just outside the old town and it was an easy tour to book. If it were a different trip, I’d try to get to some of the smaller producers that I like- DeLong, Herbrart- but going with a large producer that has a dedicated wine tourism component worked out the best.
I talked about this in the Bordeaux entries, but wine tourism here is a smaller component of a lot of winemakers’ business models. So, I’m not even sure if every small producer is equipped to handle tourists, especially around harvest when they are busy with production. Yes, I totally agree that smaller can be more “authentic,” but a larger, more commercial experience can also be pretty rewarding.
And fortunately, I would say the VC tour falls into the great experience category! Unfortunately, I had another bad bus experience where the bus was late and therefore, so was I. But the front desk lady said I could follow her to join the tour in progress.
We left the lobby, crossed the street, and she opened a door to reveal a huge staircase leading down into a cavernous cave system that used to be a chalk mine.
She dropped me off with the tour, which was really good. I learned a little more about Veuve Clicqout and I got a biography recommendation from a woman on the tour.
A new fact/exhibit to me was how they disgorged the yeast in the old days before they used the current method of freezing the cap with glycerol. Daria showed us the barrel that the champagne capper would hold the bottle in front of while slowly tilting so the air bubble came to the top and popped the yeast plug out. Then, the capper would add the dosage and cork. I’ll be honest, I still don’t totally get it but I saw the barrel set-up and I’ll look into it more.
After the tour, we had a glass of Yellow Label (Pantone #137) in the cave.
Once we were done, we walked up the grand vintage staircase. At the base is a small room with the world’s oldest yellow label bottle of VC from 1893. Overall, this tour was excellent and I strongly recommend it!
The cave was also used as a bomb shelter/underground community set-up during WWI and Daria showed a sign directing people to the hospital.
Lunch in Reims
After the tour, it was time for lunch. I tried to have lunch at a highly rated place Restaurant La Fontaine but they were complet. So, I went down the street to Chèvre et Menthe, which was a total find! It was very homey in its decor and tableware. The food was delicious! I had a salad, similar to my Mom’s iceberg lettuce salads but more delicious (sorry Mom:). I think it was the freshest produce. Then, I ordered the beef with blue cheese-based sauce, which was served with potatoes Dauphinoise. It was delicious! I finally found good beef in France.
To be clear, not having good beef was my own fault. I wasn’t looking in the right places. I had a nice Red from the Loire Valley with lunch, previewing my next stop!
Reims Cathedral
Before leaving town, I went into Reims cathedral. It is massive, especially near the alter and the sides. I was blown away by the organ. It was hard to capture well in a picture, but definitely check it out if you are there.
The main draw for me were the Chagall windows behind the alter. That man’s work is everywhere!
It was time for the train to Amboise, which took me through Paris with an across-town connection between TGV stations. This meant that I stopped at the cheese shop we went to on our tour. I bought the Tomme de Marion from the tour and a piece of fresh, runny goat cheese. I now have a big regret- why did I only buy one piece!
Arriving in Amboise
I got to Amboise and walked to the hotel, which was a bit of a hike. But look at this view on the way into town. A pair of swans made it look even more ideal.
The hotel/bed&breakfast was in a 16th century house right next to Clos de Luce, Leonardo de Vinci’s last residence. It was a great location and I had a huge room. And look at the terrace where I ate my French cheese and drank my red wine. So beautiful! The price was on the low end, which I try to do when I’m traveling solo since I don’t need a nice hotel by myself. The trade-off was the bathroom had a pretty distinct moldy smell but hey, win some, lose some?
And even though I’m not going to Burgundy on this trip, I have a new favorite wine area. Passetoutgrain from Burgundy! SMS and I had a tasting on our cheese tour, and then I bought a bottle from a different maker when I was in Paris and tried to re-buy what we had from our tour.
OMG, the cheese. I had a Roquefort when I was last in France that was so good, I wanted to marry the man who sold it to me. Ignoring the fact that he was likely a few years older than my daughter, and I’m happily married, that cheese was GOOD. Let me look it up for you, in case you get a chance to try it…It was Le Roquefort Artisanal, and the maker is Famille Carles. SO GOOD.
Now I want to add a tour to see Veuve to my next trip…handy, because I believe my BFF wants to see that too, and we are perhaps going to go together.
I think the Veuve tour is a great friends activity! And thank you for the cheese rec- I don’t know a lot about Roquefort so it’s good to have a specific recommendation:)