We flew back to Paris on accursed Ryan Air, which I can’t recommend to anyone, and began our road trip through several regions of eastern France. Our first stop was Reims in the Champagne region. Unfortunately I was suffering from food poisoning when we arrived….so we didn’t tour the city. The main attraction, once I was on my feet again the next day, was to visit one of the Champagne houses. We chose Tattinger. But first Sawyer drove his train all over the grounds and practiced his camera smile.
Welcome to Tattinger. Yes it really was founded in 1201—not by Tattinger himself, but by a bunch of monks living in an abbey surrounded by vineyards, under the direction of the Count of Champagne.
Like so many other religious edifices in France, the abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution, but the caves and some ruins are still intact and are an interesting part of the tour.
In the caves: after the champagne is aged for an initial 6 months, it’s tilted to allow the sediment to settle in the bottleneck. A special turner comes by every so often and rotates it. The guide said a turner can rotate up to 60,000 bottles a day. Eventually the bottle is completely upright, and after that it goes to the degorgement workshop, where the sediment is removed rather explosively.
Here’s an example of a vestige of the abbey: the staircase that led to the sacristy.
All the sizes of Tattinger bottles, for all your champagne needs.
As far as the eye can see….
The caves are chalk—called Les Creyieres—and people haven’t stopped carving throughout the centuries. There’s a lot of ancient graffiti, and also interesting artwork.
Next stop Metz!
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