Champagne - Close up and personal

My planned trip to Normandy was scuttled by the first snow in London. My English friends decided that it would be too precarious driving back home with a car laden with fine wine after a long lunch…

A day later I boarded the Eurostar and practically flew to the Gare du Nord in Paris. The small wine store across the road from Benoit and Olivia’s flat proved a good hunting ground for wines that are not as easy to find in the UK. In the interest of education we indulged in a Bandol from the SW of France. Earthy and textured, predominantly made from the mourvedre grape but with dollops of Grenache as well. Great with a wintry stew.

After a few days exploring the smokey bars, boulangeries, fromageries, charcuteries and chocolatiers of this lively and elegant city, it was time to get back to work. A quick comparison between London and Paris: while London is being overtaken by franchise stores, Parisians still hold onto their small, privately-owned shops that offer personal knowledgeable service.

Winter is not the best season to visit Champagne – for that matter, any wine region. However, I needed to soldier on, possibly the world’s most famous and expensive wine region was beckoning. Car rented via the internet (or so I thought) and after a number of illegal U- and other turns (pardon - je suis touriste), I was on the Peripherique, the highway that encircles the metropolis. The Champagne region is about 1.5 hours drive NE of Paris but one will only encounter signs mentioning the illustrious name after about 76km.

My network had been very busy arranging introductions and visits in the previous two weeks. Some Champagne houses offer regular tours but many do not. Benoit’s father, Arnaud introduced me to Taittinger and Kathy from Hancocks tied up a tour and lunch with Laurent, the new export director at Pol Roger. A few pushy emails snared me a very interesting visit with Moët et Chandon where a member of one of the founding families, Stanislas Rocoffort de Vinniere, and head viticulturist Philippe Lesne dramatically increased my understanding of the region its history and the issues in a few hours. Last but not least I managed to get an introduction to Benoît Marguet, who is the 5^th generation of the House Champagne Marguet. Conveniently, his wife is the 7^th generation of Champagne Launois.

Champagne fervently protects its name, having taken a perfume house, a village in Switzerland and an Elderberry wine from the UK to court to stop them using their brand name. In each case they won.

The winegrowing area of Champagne covers about 33,000 hectares and New Zealand currently has around 25,000 ha planted. We would do well to learn from this example and focus on premium wine, core varietals, build brand New Zealand Wine consistently and avoid wine-making scandals. If we are patient, over the next 3-4 generations, we could achieve a similar market position.

The Champagne region is centred on a small range of hills rising from a plain of chalk soil and divided by the river Marne. It is roughly divided into 3 regions: the Montagne de Reims (mainly pinot noir and more of a hill than a mountain), the Côte de Blancs (mainly chardonnay) and La Valée de la Marne (mainly pinot meunier). These three grape varieties, in varying degrees, make up the wine we know as Champagne.

Next month will take us into the wineries, caves and finally to taste some Champagne! Must dash off to Bordeaux now, the next chapter in this journey into wine.