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| Dom Perignon, the monk responsible for Moët & Chandon Champagne House. |
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Even before my trip I loved drinking Moët & Chandon Brut Impérial champagne. After a quick search on the Internet I learned that the champagne house is only a short distance by train from Paris. Epernay, France is in the center of the Champagne region of France. Visit Moët & Chandon.
To be called champagne, the grapes must have come from the champagne region of France. If you are ever in the area, I recommend visiting the Champagne House of Moët & Chandon. Moët & Chandon is also the home of Dom Perignon champagne. There are also other Champagne Houses in this area although I only visited this one.
The art of champagne making is a delicate, lengthy process involving 2 fermentations of the grapes. The long, dark cellars deep underground are cool and lined with bottles full of fermenting grapes. There are kilometers upon kilometers of cellars and tourists are carefully watched by the guides so as to not get lost. |
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The cellars are filled with rack upon rack of bottles of fermenting grapes. The guide told me that there is a code, as seen on the board in the photo on the left, used by the champagne makers to keep track of the bottles. Many different varieties and vintages are in the cellars.
After a tour of the cellars, guest are greeted with a tasting of the product. My traveling companion and I selected tasting 5 different champagnes. Our guide shows us the proper champagne pouring technique (see photo). |
Interestingly, the best champagne comes in the 1.5L and magna bottles. This is because champagne is fermented in 1.5 L and magna bottles. All other sizes of champagne have had the champagne poured from the fermenting bottle to the selling bottle. This process adds air to the champagne, altering the intended flavor. Brut Imperial is a delicate blend of Chardonnay (for freshness, elegance, finesse and vivacity), Pinot Noir (for fruitiness, body, strength and persistence) and Pinot Meunier (for roundness and bouquet) grapes.
I did not know this before the trip, but most of France is closed from noon to 14.00 (2:00PM) for lunch. Although I had planned on going to Epernay just to visit Moët & Chandon, I had more time to walk through the town and enjoy a wonderful lunch because my train arrived during lunch hours. The photos above show my lunch at Le Chapon Fin Hotel Restaurant on Rue Gambetta in Epernay, France. I had a fantastic salad followed by steak tartar with (French) fries. |
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