Imagine an ocean of champagne. Bottle upon bottle until their curves begin to look like the ripples on the sea. Millions of bottles of champagne resting in cool deep cellars, hundreds of feet down in the chalky subsoil of France.
Champagne is a very special drink. Reserved for weddings, christenings and family celebrations, and no one appreciates champagne more than those involve in producing this sparkling drink. The people living in those 300 plus villages in the champagne region passionate and dedicated to Champagne – the region's lifeblood.
We travelled east of Paris to the Champagne region of France where 33,400 hectares of Champagne growing land produce the three types of grapes needed for making champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. In 2015 the Champagne region was declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Here were the Champagne houses bearing names known the world over: Moet & Chandon, Deutz, Lanson, Bonnaire and Charles Heidsieck to name but a few.
We were fortunate enough to visit some of these incredible houses ranging from the giant Champagne makers of Lanson, where around 25 million bottles of Champagne are stored in six miles of underground cellars, to the more modest Champagne makers such as Bonnaire Champagne who produce 280,000 bottles a year. And we talked to the people for whom Champagne is their life and love.
The rules to making Champagne
The basic mechanics of Champagne growing must all abide by the same strict rules. Vines, pruning, harvesting are all rigidly controlled by the Le Comité Interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC). However, it is the skill and craftsmanship of the individuals at each Champagne house that make the champagnes so different. The skill of the cellar master, the way it's blended, stored, riddled, disgorged, bottled, corked and packaged. Each Champagne house prides itself on their own unique style.
Our trip allowed us to visit some of these Incredible Champagne houses and witness how new and old combine as perfectly as the wines in the art of making champagne. From ultra-modern fermentation tanks to 150-year-old storage cellars. From computerised automatic riddling to the old traditional hand-turning of each bottle. From laboratory blending to the judgement of a trusted blender who has been with that champagne family for decades.
One cellar master who had worked with the family for 21 years, following in his father's footsteps, talked about blending. "Ever since I was a child I have grown up with Champagne. Blending is based on taste, first impressions. It's like a painting, like a Picasso, there is no rigid structure."
Another cellar master had his own inequitable way of describing the way they blended their Champagne. "The whole family get together, it is like the election of the Pope," he said. "We are locked in a room, and we don't get out until we are finished. The only thing missing is the little wisp of smoke!"
Prayers offered at the roadside for a good harvest
Driving through the Champagne region offers mile upon mile of immaculately neat rows of vines – spectacular to see. And it's not unusual to come across lovely crucifixes close to some vineyards as growers pray for successful harvests. But what goes on below the ground is even more stunning. Long, steep or spiralling stairways, cut from stone, taking you hundreds of feet below the earth's surface. You descend into great underground caverns, a catacomb of silent passageways lit only by candle-light or sodium lights, turning the chalky white walls to a soft hue of orange.
Down in these cellars the air is cool, only about 11 degrees Celsius the whole year round. And there is silence except for your own echoing footsteps as you walk through mile upon mile of tunnels – some of which were used in the second world war for the villagers to take refuge in. And here in the silence you discover these oceans of champagne, gathering dust, silently waiting until one day each bottle will burst with a million bubbles as it becomes a part of someone's special celebration.
The Champagne Capital
Epernay is a small town in the hills south of Reims in France, known as the 'champagne capital'. Here you will find many of the biggest champagne producers, cellar tours and champagne tours.
