Category: France/Belgium, Summer 2022

We crammed our friends John and Katie into the back seat of our rental car and headed south towards Beaune.  We had to make one stop at a Champagne house on the way, one of our favorites, Gosset.

Gosset is the oldest “wine” house in Champagne, not to be confused with the oldest “Champagne” house in Champagne, (Ruinart).  Gosset started making still wine in 1584, but switched over to Champagne when it became popular with the French nobility in the 19th century.  The below is a very creepy photo of Pierre Gosset, the founder of the winery.  Pierre is the one on the right, don’t mix up your creepy figures.

We were supposed to do a full tour of the cellars, but my car’s Nav system took us to their commercial winery.  It turned out ok, we had an excellent tasting by a super nice host, and we’ve seen plenty of cellars at this point.

Ok, a quick “pro tip” regarding the toll lanes in France.  If you see the following sign…

…do NOT get in the lane with the “t” unless you have a transponder.  If you are tourist, you likely don’t have a transponder!  The lane with the green arrow is to pay with a credit card.  Don’t ask me how I know this!  Jeez, I can still hear the cars honking at me!  What an embarrassing clusterfuck that was!  Onwards…

The next day in Beaune we had a tasting at Domaine Drouhin that Randy had set up.

Randy recently befriended Veronique Drouhin, their Head Winemaker, and she gave us the private tour treatment.  This press from the 13th century still works, and is used for special wines from time to time.

The cellars are beautiful, and a perfect spot to escape the summer heat.

Our tour group, ready to taste!

Randy is standing in front of a 3rd century Roman wall.

If you read the book “Wine and War”, and you should, there is a story about Maurice Drouhin, who was helping the French resistance against the Germans during WWII.  The Gestapo came to take him away and execute him in June 1944, and he escaped from the cellars via this door, now known as the “Door of Freedom”.

Kim and Kari in front of all the wines we tried.  This was an exceptional tasting!

This was my favorite wine of the tasting, and of course it’s a Grand Cru.  Damn focus!

If the private tour and tasting wasn’t enough, Veronique set up a lunch for us inside the winery, and opened some more excellent wines!  Apparently Randy makes a really good impression!

Her husband Michel is on the far left, and Veronique is third from the left, between Katie and John.  Really appreciate the hospitality!!

We stayed at a really nice spot just outside the ramparts of Beaune called Le Clos De L’Aigue.  I highly recommend it, as it’s super quiet and comfortable.  They even have a pool, which was perfect for the summer heat.

They also have chickens!

We had a tasting and lunch lined up for our last day, but both Kim and I got sick, so we stayed close to the hotel.  I did give Randy and Kari a ride to the airport so they could take their private chartered jet to the south of France.

One last shot of Burgundy on the way back to the hotel.  Super beautiful this time of year!

Up next we head to our last location before flying home, Chablis, France.

 

When we first received the invitation to Randy and Kari’s wedding in Champagne, our thoughts were “how did we make the cut?”,  “Who got sick?”,  “Does Randy need me to take care of a body at some point?”

We arrived a day before the wedding party at 5-Star Les Crayeres, one of the nicest hotels we have ever stayed in.  Our room wasn’t quite ready on arrival (that’s a first on this trip), but have no fear, we are in Champagne, so please have a complimentary glass of bubbles while you wait.  Oh, freshly made cookies too.  Twist my arm!

The hotel is gorgeous!

Our room was on the top floor in the left side of the photo.  If you ever stay here ask for Room 21, you won’t be sorry.

The rooms are impeccable.

The hallway is a little creepy…I kept expecting to hear Danny riding his Big Wheel down the hall.  At least we weren’t in Room 237.  Redrum!  (Yes, I’m a big Stephen King fan, having read nearly all of his books).

We took a drive into the center of Reims and checked out the Cathedral Notre Dame of Reims, constructed in the 13th and 14th centuries.  An excellent example of Gothic architecture, it was built to replace a cathedral destroyed by fire in 1210.  This site was originally a cathedral dating back to the beginning of the 5th century, constructed over the ruins of a Roman bathhouse built by Emperor Constantine.

The Cathedral was severely damaged during WWI by the Germans.

At first there was a thought to leave the Cathedral “as is” as a monument to the victims of the war.  This idea was rejected, and in 1919 a major restoration was started, with major funding coming from the Rockefeller Foundation.  The western portal rose window was made in 1938 to replace the original that was  destroyed by the Germans.

These windows were made to represent the Champagne houses that have made Reims so famous.  If you expand it you can see various steps in the Champagne process depicted in stained glass.

These windows were made by Marc Chagall, an early modern artist, in 1968.  He created several stained glass artworks for Catholic churches, even though he was Jewish.

The newest stained glass windows in the church were created in 2011 by German artist Imi Knoebel.  I like these a lot.

The Cathedral was very popular for the coronation of Kings, dating back to 496 AD, when Clovis, the first King of the Franks was baptized a Christian here by Saint Remigius, the bishop of Reims. He was the first Frankish king to receive this sacrament.  This inspired a long tradition of royal coronations in Reims, as evidenced in the below plaque.

Charles the VII was coronated in 1429 with Joan or Arc at his side, so she has two statues here, one inside the cathedral and one outside.

Since we were in Champagne, we of course visited Champagne houses.  First was G.H. Martel.  Nice tour, but just ok wine.

We also visited Taittinger, which was an even better tour and excellent Champagne!

The below photo courtesy of Randy’s daughters boyfriend, Kieffer.  He is much taller and able to take the shot over the stacks of bottles!

Our last Champagne tour was Ruinart, set up for the wedding guests.  If you only have time for one Champagne house in Reims, this is the one to hit.  Wow!  First the interesting artwork in the reception area.

Then down into the cellars, with the perfect 55 degree temps!

This is my kind of storage area!  The line down the middle is their version of a drunk test.

All of the caves in Reims were dug out during the 13th century by Benedictine monks seeking the chalk for buildings.  It wasn’t for another century until these caves were rediscovered and used for Champagne aging and storage.  You can see the evidence of the chalk quarry in the below photo, with the shaft being where they hauled out the quarried product.

Just to make themselves stand apart, Ruinart also set up a light show in one of the caves.

The only thing better than the tour were the Champagnes, the best we’ve had!  Thanks Randy and Kari!

Speaking of Randy and Kari, here are a couple of shots from a dinner had the first night the wedding party arrived in Reims.

You can see Kim in the background with Wendy, a friend of Kari’s from Florida.

The wedding had a string quartet…very classy, and very talented artists!

The Bridge and Groom.  The wedding was supposed to be outside, but the weather did not cooperate, and it was pouring when the ceremony was taking place.

Fortunately it cleared up enough for the incredible fireworks display.  We were very impressed, as I don’t think our home town has the Randy budget for fireworks!  Credit to Michael White for the awesome fireworks shot!

This was such an incredible wedding event, and we were very blessed to have been invited!  A huge thank you to Randy and Kari Wigginton!

Next up, we travel to Beaune in Burgundy, for more food and wine!