I woke up a little early and went downstairs to scope out the spa while Darren got up later and got ready. He takes his time getting ready. I had been up during part of the night, since I am still a bit jet-lagged. So it wasn’t too weird for me to be up early wandering the hallways in a robe. I found this thing called a hamam, it’s like a steam sauna. I like it! Sat in there for a bit, then back up to get ready for the day.
Our first appt, Joseph Perrier in the small town of Chalons. We were extremely late, and only managed to talk our way in at the gate with a lot of finagling. Since it was Saturday, the Champagne House was closed. There was a special tour guide from the chamber of commerce there conducting the tour, only in french. Everybody's in jackets. It's cold!
I was forced to translate for Darren. French is...a growth area for me. Here's Darren by the riddling racks.
For an old-style winery, they have some pretty up-to-date machinery.
Still I think we managed to have a good time on the tour, especially when the bubbly started flowing at the end. Between about six or eight of us and four bottles later, no one seemed to really care, or realize, what language anyone else was speaking. The champagne here is very good!
Afternoon appt back on Rue de Crayeres at Pommery. Now this place is the Disney of Champagne Houses. Where did the space ship come from? I think Breton has been here!
No friend of industry discount, turnstiles, placards, cash registers, dozens of guests even on a Saturday of the off-season. Probably helped that they were also gearing up for the Reims jazz festival. We were lucky enough to catch some brazilian jazz singer and a free jazz sextet warming up while we waited to start the tour, and for our tasting at the end.
The tour guide was french, very funny. Kind of irreverent. Took us through dozens of chalk pits (crayeres) some with outrageous installation art pieces. There was an art installation exhibit all built into the crayeres. Bonus. Lots of caves had different names of cities on signs at the entrance, showing widow Pommery’s intention to conquer all the world’s markets little by little. There was an overhead tram system built into the caves shortly after 1880, I suppose they just borrowed the newfound wire cable technology for it from the mining industry in the comstock lode of the Sierra Foothills and a top - lighted model bottle showing the lees in the bottom.
There were also massive bas relief carvings in the chalk walls of the life of the widow Pommery and Bacchus, the God of wine. These sculptures were incredible. The pictures don't do them justice at all.
Including a bottle from 1874.
This is the biggest and most ornate wine cask i have ever seen.
After the tour, we walked back up the two hundred eighty some-odd steps to the reception area. The champagne was pretty good. We got the top-of-the-line tasting they had to offer, their Louise 1999 cuvee. Neither of us was really blown away by it, but we enjoyed the tour very much.
Too lazy to go wandering into the night, and knowing we were getting up early on the 21st, we had dinner back at Briqueterrie again. It did not suck....at all. It's a michelin-starred restaurant. Again they insisted on us eating three times more food than I could handle, and I couldn't resist because it was so good!
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