We toured 4 different houses (actually going into their cellars and listening to a guided talk about how champagne is made) and drove along the Champagne Route and stopped at a few smaller, family run houses as well. Rough estimate is we drank 32 total glasses of champagne (average 5 a day per person?).
As we were celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary (24 years of knowing each other, for those who knew us back then!), and also going to be in the car for several hours, I decided to make a “mix” CD for Paul. It turned out to be 67 songs, 5 hours, and 4 CDs long! We had lots of fun reminiscing while we sang our hearts out.
Things we learned over the weekend:
• Champagne production is strictly limited to the 35,000 hectares in the region.
• There are 3 types of grapes used in champagne production - pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay. The amount of each grape used determines the type of champagne produced.
• grapes are picked by hand and usually pressed as close as possible to the vineyards where they were harvested.
• the chalky subsoil makes it perfect for harvesting grapes and storing the wine in cellars/caves where the temp. remains 10 degrees Celsius regardless what the the temp. is outside.
• Brut means less than 15 grams of sugar per liter.
• Demi-Sec means between 33 and 50 grams of sugar per liter.
• Blanc de blanc - means only chardonnay grapes are used.
• Rose - means “adding” the red-skinned grapes
• Vintage - champagne from a single year’s harvest ages on racks for at least 3 years before marketing.
• our tastes are completely opposite when it comes to champagne, as Paul prefers Blanc de blanc, and I the demi-sec.
• It is possible to actually get sick of drinking champagne! Towards the end, Paul decided he was beginning to prefer his champagne without bubbles... which I reminded him was simply white wine!!
