After an unbelievably first-class day at Ruinart and Krug on Tuesday, I was hoping the momentum would continue through the rest of the week. I have to admit Wednesday was not disappointing in the least. Waking to my room service breakfast of croissant, tea and yogurt, I hopped into an amazing shower to start my day.
Glowing from sleep and great Champagne, we all gathered on our bus to head to Clicquot. We met our guide in the main lobby of the maison and proceeded with the tour, which included a history of the house and collected memorabilia, as well as a trek through the caves. As with both Moët and Ruinart, Clicquot’s caves were utilized during the wars for shelter and daily life. One thing that Clicquot has that the others do not is a giant bas-relief sculpture created by Andre Navlet of a lady with a large bottle of Clicquot in hand and a young boy wrapped in grape vines in tow. It is remarkable in both its beauty and its immensity. Another great feature of the crayeres are the steps that showcase each of the vintage years at Clicquot. The steps are simple, yet offer a powerful visual connecting present-day Clicquot to all the years past.
Of my entire experience at the maison, the base wine tasting with a member of the blending team at Clicquot is an experience I will never forget. When people ask me why Champagne is so expensive and suggest that the large Champagne houses are of lesser quality than grower Champagnes, my mind will always return to the image of several winemakers tasting hundreds of still wines to create the famous yellow label of Veuve Clicquot. These wines are not wines for everyday drinking – they are acidic and unblended, lacking in the qualities most people would consider proper for consumption. The winemakers on the blending team are tasked to create a base for the Champagne with these wines, many of which have been ageing in the crayeres for some time. They all must agree on the final assemblage in order to develop the final product. And this is just for the Yellow Label! As all four of the maisons mentioned during our visit, the hardest work often goes into the non-vintage, which is actually a multi-vintage, created from wines from several harvests. After the base wine evaluation, we opened a magnum of Clicquot to toast to our visit and, in my eyes, to the Champenois who created the glorious bubbles we drink today.
Leaving Clicquot, we had a few hours to ourselves for the first time in days, a treat on trips such as these. The afternoon was glorious with beautiful May sunshine, espresso on the patio of a bustling bistro, and lunch at Cafe du Palais. Following lunch, we all chose our own little groups and headed out to experience the city. Much of my day was spent smoking gauloises (when in France!) and sipping espresso and Leffe on a sidewalk patio in the center of Reims. Little dogs, young couples and children passed by the large fountain in the courtyard, all basking in the glow of the sun. If not for the scheduled dinner, I could have stayed in the cafe through the evening and been thoroughly entertained the entire time.
That night, we transferred to Verzy for a very special dinner at the Clicquot country house. It was our last dinner in Champagne and it was delicious. Even better was the experience of being in such a historic home built for entertaining guests of the Clicquot family. Drinking bubbles in the midst of Champagne vineyards, I promised myself I would return soon.
