If you need me i’ll be drinking champagne..

“Oooh yum! Nice bubbles, I could drink this all day. Let’s get some.”

V Monaghan, August 2020

Quotes about champagne are plentiful.

“I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.” “Pleasure without Champagne is purely artificial.”  “Champagne is the one thing that gives me zest when I feel tired.” “Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? Doesn’t everyone?” are a few of my favourites (respectively Coco Chanel, Oscar Wilde, Brigitte Bardot and Noel Coward.)

I believe good champagne to have magical transformative powers. It makes any occasion seem immediately more special. Saying “ooh lets have a glass of Champagne” feels so naughty and delicious - especially on a week day, or for no reason whatsoever and definitely when it’s both. Conversation is more animated, people seem more attractive and I’m convinced I become more intelligent after a glass or two. The insightful and astute quote at the start of this post is surely evidence of this?

Then there is the dazzling throng of famous labels; Bollinger, Taittinger, Krug, Roederer, Pol Roger, Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Perrier Jouët.

Whisper them under your breath like an incantation.

Conjure up visions of centuries old decadence; evenings spent in spinning, crinoline filled ballrooms; in glittering cocktail bars, champagne bubbles foaming from dish shaped glasses clutched by grinning flappers; splashing extravagantly across winner’s podiums (and bodies, and faces), sipped quietly in covert lovers’ corners in hushed, blush-lit bistros.

Yes…it certainly holds a special place in my imagination (can you tell?) although by no means a regularly affordable indulgence. So there was a certain poetry about staying for free in a region that makes arguably some of the world’s most expensive wines. With Janis parked up alongside the wide turquoise waters of the Marne river in the quiet village of Cumières, we felt lucky to have one of the best views in the house.

Tree-lined roads leading us onwards and a dip in the Marne. Swimming in Champagne, but less fizzy.

Now, there are hundreds of wine makers and thousands of grape growers in the region - a lot of whom sell their grapes or juice or still wines to the big brands or Grandes Marques who turn it into sparkling champagne. This is how Moët & Chandon and others are able to produce millions of bottles each year to satisify global demand. This trip, I find myself keeping an eye out for the récoltant manipulant - the grower maker. (Look out for this, or the letters RM on your next bottle of fizz.) These are the guys, and increasingly gals I’m happy to say, who nurture the grapes from the vines, to the wines and all the way to the final bottles. But there are still a LOT of them - so how to choose who to visit?

As I was meandering around the tiny streets of Cumières one night, I saw a sign (some might say the sign) which said intriguingly “R. Geoffroy Cumières Rouge.” Red?? I said. What’s this all about?

Well here’s the thing. The Champagne region actually grows mainly black grape varieties (70% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier combined) but they are predominantly used to make the white, sparkly stuff we know and love. The fact that they also use these grapes to make red wines makes enormous amounts of sense, it just gets overshadowed by its cousin with the big personality and the bubbles.

There was no way I was going to leave without trying some of this mysterious red and of course, some champagne too, so we rang to book a tasting.

I didn’t have a golden ticket - but I did have an appointment.

The next morning how we found ourselves on a non-descript street just down the road in Äy, where the Geoffroy family moved their home and winery from Cumières 12 years ago. Behind two imposing iron gates; the likes of which would excite any golden ticket winner; stood a very smart 19th Century townhouse of shutters, and slender chimneys, stone balustrades and tasteful embellishments which all served to make my van-dwelling un-showered self feel very grubby indeed.

Thankfully, our host for the tour and tasting was the delightfully earthy and forthright Renauld, friend of the Geoffroy family and a champagne maker in his own right. As often happens when I’m confronted by someone who seems initially reserved to the point of grumpy, I spent most of the following two hours determined to make him smile, with mixed success.

After a little pre-amble about the history of Champagne Geoffroy (15 generations of growers who have been making their own wine for 3 generations) we began the tour on the ground floor of the winery which was all modern looking stainless steel fermentation tanks and industrial hoses and washed marble floors. I always think this part of a winery looks pleasingly clinical and scientific, like the business end of the operation, with the more artistic part coming after with wood and darkness and blending and time.

Next, we wandered through to a dim, womb-like cellar lined with wooden barrels quietly ageing the still wines which will be used later to make champagne, as well as the mysterious Cumières Rouge I was on the hunt for. It was at this point I expressed to Renauld my wish to try some of this wine if at all possible “s’il vous plaît?” which was met with an “I’ll see what we can do” and an almost-smile.

Then on we were led, down some very dark stairs, feeling the temperature drop with every step, lowering ourselves into the 1 kilometre long network of cellars containing not barrels this time, but bottles.

ONE MILLION of them. Stretching on and on endlessly.

It is quite enchanting to think that in these dark chilly tunnels; the walls and ceilings black with tangles of an ancient fungus which feeds on the alcohol in the air; is where the sparkle in champagne is born.

The only way in which champagne bubbles are allowed to be created, is through a second fermentation of the wine inside the bottle. Once the fermentation has finished and the yeasts have played their part, they take a quick bow, die and gradually gradually settle against the glass inside the bottle. The wine and deceased yeast (lees) will then spend many years together, a signature element of champagne making process. It is this that gives us complexity and aromas and flavours of brioche or pastries amongst other delicious things, and can also lend a creamy texture to the wine.

Champagne Geoffroy age their vintage champagne “on the lees” for a minimum of 5 years and their top vintage cuvée for a minimum of ELEVEN years. Truly impressive levels of dedication and patience.

I mean, imagine you have lodgers who remain in your house for more than a decade. They require constant attention, delicate handling, studious temperature control but who don’t pay any rent until they are purchased - or move out, to use my lodger metaphor. You’d have to really REALLY like them. A wildly inappropriate crush with borderline obsessive tendencies would suffice.

Anyway, I digress….

Leaving the cellars, we found ourselves several metres higher and several degrees warmer in little tasting room off the central courtyard. Here we were presented with five of their delicious champagnes to sample. My heart sank a little when Mme. Geoffroy herself, the lady of the house, was unable to find any of their Cumières Rouge as it was not normally a part of the tasting. Mercifully, Renauld was not so easily deterred and trudged off in search of some himself, returning triumphantly from an unseen fridge with a bottle (and another half-smile.)

So what was it like you ask?? Very nice, is the answer. Served chilled to 12 degrees celsius, helped to show off the fresh aromas of stewed strawberry compote, cherries and herbs followed by bright fresh strawberries, raspberries and currants with fresh acidity and a light woodiness on the palate. Would I drink it again? Yes, but personally I’d want some food too. It would be amazing with an enormous charcuterie board for a special picnic or as a nice alternative to white wine with fish.

The champagnes themselves were all fantastic and we could easily have spent all day sipping and listening to Renauld (who turned out to be a real gastronome) describe all of the fantastic things you can eat with champagne and how and when to drink it. Being a coffee hater, he holds on to a glass of any fizz served earlier in a meal and enjoys it as a final livener before leaving the table. I really approve of this approach. Why leave yourself with a bitter mouthful of coffee, when you could float away from the meal with a hit of delicious, crisp bubbles?

I deem these to be the actions of someone living a jolly bonne life indeed and decide to adopt this approach at the very next opportunity. Now, where’s that bottle…

If you fancy looking for some still red from Champagne yourself, search under “Coteaux Champenois” which is how still red wines from Champagne are classified.