In May, Mariette Abovici from our London on-trade sales team took some lucky clients out to Champagne, to meet all of our growers and taste their glorious wines! She kindly wrote this report for us:
The trip was very educational,
for my customers and for myself. We received a very warm welcome from all our
growers, we have seen Gratiot-Pillière vineyards and had a food and champagne matching
organized at Christelle and Olivier beautiful house with a caterer.
The second
day, we went to Epernay in the morning, visited the Avenue de Champagne (most
expensive avenue of the world with the billions of bottles in the cellars)
which is always impressive, spent the afternoon visiting the cellars and
tasting Moncuit champagne with Nicole and Yves. Before driving to Reims, we did
a quick stop in Hautvillers, to see the abbaye of Dom Perignon (monk who
created the champagne) and the beautiful view on the valley from the picnic area.
If you open a bottle of champagne there that’s a bonus!
Just time to check in at the
hotel in Reims and we headed to Le Petit Comptoir for having a very nice dinner
with Jean-Claude who was a bit sick but still very enthusiastic.
The last morning, we drove to
Paillard, visited the cellars, tasted the champagnes and had lunch back in
Reims at the Boulingrin. Time to go back to London then! Everybody (except the
driver obviously) was sleeping in the car.
The chardonnay vineyards have
been touched by the frost (Moncuit and Gratiot Pillière). Not the Pinot Meunier
because it was late so not out yet. Paillard has been very lucky.
My impressions: if you want to
impress your customers, take them to Paillard (special room to receive and taste,
big cellars, long history and tradition showcased). If you want to have a more
bespoke experience, go to Gratiot-Pillière, where we have been received at
their house and had a special champagne & food dinner with a caterer just
for us. If you want a very French authentic experience, go to Moncuit (they do
not really speak English) but their champagnes are lovely, low dosage.
We did not
visit Joseph Perrier (only champagne house in Châlons-en-Champagne) but we had dinner
with Jean-Claude Fourmon, the CEO.
Mariette Abovici, London On-Trade Sales
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