~ Champagne Outing In Style ~ With Five Sommeliers and One Apprentissage Sommelier

As a practising (and practical) Sommelier, it has long been a rule of mine to confine my examination of fine wines to dry land only, citing the importance of dexterity and balance; in other words avoiding, for instance, tasting delicate, delicious Champagnes on a 38-foot sailboat stationed several hundred metres off the coast of Lake Ontario. And yet, this is precisely what I undertook recently on the brilliant watercraft of avid boaters Liz Palmer, Wine Writer and Apprentissage Sommelier, with partner Robert Roland (jazz piano extraordinaire), both active affiliates of Port Credit Yacht Club, soon to play host to a multitude of fine wine tastings for its members. Also in attendance were fellow sommeliers Kate Hatherly, Richard Wah Kan, and Wanda Wang.

Of my hosts, let me just say that they are experts in combining the pleasures of wine and sailing with remarkable contentment — I believe the phrase “This Is the Life” was uttered on more than one occasion during my time aboard. Boarding Déjà Vu on a sunny thirty-degree afternoon, I was first treated with a refreshing serving of J’adore Tiffany Champagne Cocktail™ a creation of Liz’s own making, comprising one-thirds Champagne, mango juice, and pink lemonade. Delicious, refreshing, and strongly mango-flavoured, these were served in unusual conical-shaped glasses, which Liz had procured on her most recent expedition to Paris, from the Eiffel Tower.

The Champagnes:

Casting off and sailing out onto the water, we first partook of a lovely half-bottle of Chassenay d’Arce Brut NV ‘Sélection’ (89+/100, priced well under 20 Euros), comprising 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay, sourced from the Aube winegrowing region of Champagne: revealing lovely scents of delicate toasted biscuits, lemon, pears, dried nuts, and spice; complex and elegant, though definitely lighter-styled. Quite interestingly, the claim to fame for this smaller-scaled house is its participation with various famous artistic establishments (including the Louvre) in organizing wine-and-art events. Usually, when one hears about such activities, one tends to think of Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon, not the smaller houses – a real coup if you ask me.

Our second Champagne was the exceptional Drappier Brut Vintage 2002 ‘Millésime Exception’ (93/100, approx. 90 Euros), comprising 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay: starbright, pale straw colour, offering incredible scents of fresh toast and biscuits, switching to pears, hazelnuts, lemon, green apples, brioche, and spice; extremely complex, stylish, moussy, and crisp; disgorged in March, 2010.

The Accompaniments:

With such marvellous Champagnes, Liz and Rob were wholly up to the task of providing a wide array of delightful food accompaniments for the afternoon. On her latest visit to Champagne, Liz had been able to procure a lovely packet of authentic ‘Roses de Reims Biscuits’ Champagne biscuits, used primarily as a palate-restorative by the locals whenever they partake of some bubbly. Combined with an exquisite helping of locally: (Champagne) crafted pork liver pâté, cheeses, crackers, and Californian berries (where else?), it was assuredly clear that all things edible only served to enhance what was truly a lovely Champagne-and-sailing outing … utterly worthy of mention in the inaugural column of ‘Wine Waves’ and GAM on Yachting.

Julian Hitner and Liz Palmer

EPERNAY – here you learn to love the tiny bubbles that are synonymous with joy and happiness….

[slideshow] Situated at the heart of the world’s most prestigious vineyards, Epernay, the capital of the Champagne region, attracts over 500,000 visitors every year. With over 30,000 hectares of vineyards, enchanted forests, and bordering the River Marne, this region has the UNESCO World Heritage Site Distinction.

The Town of Epernay, which traverses these famous vineyards, is located between the Marne River and the hills, which is at the junction of the “Tourist Routes of Champagne”. Here, you will find the famous L’Avenue de Champagne “The Avenue de Champagne”. Some of the world’s famous Champagne producers, mansions dating back to the end of the nineteenth century, and large trading houses line The Avenue de Champagne. Beneath this grand Avenue lies 110 kilometers of chalk cellars with over 200 million bottles of Champagne – this makes this Avenue one of the most prestigious streets in the world! Some of the notable Champagne houses located on the Avenue are Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Boizel, Comtesse Lafond, De Castellane Esterlin, Perrier-Jouet, Pol Roger, and De Venoge.

The Avenue was recently renovated and redesigned as an avenue-park creating a pleasant place to stroll and admire the historical buildings with tall ornate gates. With the renovations complete The Avenue de Champagne now has wider sidewalks (almost as wide as the roadway), cycle paths, heritage trees, 
with a special emphasis on lighting (which beautifully enhances the facades and entrances to the Champagne houses). 


Avenue de Champagne is also used for many champagne events, including the upcoming “Habits de Lumière” Christmas lights in December.

A number of the Champagne houses provide one-hour tours and a tasting. Dom Perignon provides a tour in which you will tour historical areas such as the place where Napoleon drank wine. Mercier provides laser-guided tours and elevator rides. Moet and Chandon cellars tours include seeing the million bottles of Champagne stored. The tour of Chandon lasts for about 45 minutes. At Mercier you can see the 160,000 gallon barrel that took about 20 years to complete and stores over 20,0000 bottles of Champagne.

Once you complete a tour and indulge in a tasting, you get to see for yourself that…
Drinking Champagne in Epernay is like listening to Mozart in Salzburg.

How to Get to Epernay

By plane:
international Airports : Paris Orly and Paris Charles de Gaulle

By train:
Epernay is linked with Paris – 10 direct trains a day (1 ¼ hr)

By car:
Epernay is located at the junction of 2 main national roads: 
- RN51, connecting the north countries to the south of France and Europe) 
- RN3, linking the west to the east

Motorways:
1 1/2 hours from Paris and 3 hours from Dijon and Calais
– A4 (Paris-Strasbourg) 
- A26 (Calais Dijon)

Tourist Office Location
Office de Tourisme d’Epernay 

7 avenue de Champagne 

BP 28 
21 201
EPERNAY

Champagne Outing ‘In Style’ with four Sommeliers, one Apprentissage Sommelier and one Jazz Pianist

As a practising (and practical) Sommelier, it has long been a rule of mine to confine my examination of fine wines to dry land only, citing the importance of dexterity and balance; in other words avoiding, for instance, tasting delicate, delicious Champagnes on a 38-foot sailboat stationed several hundred metres off the coast of Lake Ontario. And yet, this is precisely what I undertook recently on the brilliant watercraft of avid boaters Liz Palmer, Wine Writer and Apprentissage Sommelier, with partner Robert Roland (jazz piano extraordinaire), both active affiliates of Port Credit Yacht Club, soon to play host to a multitude of fine wine tastings for its members. Also in attendance were fellow sommeliers Kate Hatherly, Richard Wah Kan, and Wanda Wang.

Of my hosts, let me just say that they are experts in combining the pleasures of wine and sailing with remarkable contentment — I believe the phrase “This Is the Life” was uttered on more than one occasion during my time aboard. Boarding Déjà Vu on a sunny thirty-degree afternoon, I was first treated with a refreshing serving of J’adore Tiffany Champagne Cocktail™ a creation of Liz’s own making, comprising one-thirds Champagne, mango juice, and pink lemonade. Delicious, refreshing, and strongly mango-flavoured, these were served in unusual conical-shaped glasses, which Liz had procured on her most recent expedition to Paris, from the Eiffel Tower.

The Champagnes:

Casting off and sailing out onto the water, we first partook of a lovely half-bottle of Chassenay d’Arce Brut NV ‘Sélection’ (89+/100, priced well under 20 Euros), comprising 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay, sourced from the Aube winegrowing region of Champagne: revealing lovely scents of delicate toasted biscuits, lemon, pears, dried nuts, and spice; complex and elegant, though definitely lighter-styled. Quite interestingly, the claim to fame for this smaller-scaled house is its participation with various famous artistic establishments (including the Louvre) in organizing wine-and-art events. Usually, when one hears about such activities, one tends to think of Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon, not the smaller houses – a real coup if you ask me.

Our second Champagne was the exceptional Drappier Brut Vintage 2002 ‘Millésime Exception’ (93/100, approx. 90 Euros), comprising 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay: starbright, pale straw colour, offering incredible scents of fresh toast and biscuits, switching to pears, hazelnuts, lemon, green apples, brioche, and spice; extremely complex, stylish, moussy, and crisp; disgorged in March, 2010.

The Accompaniments:

With such marvelous Champagnes, Liz and Rob were wholly up to the task of providing a wide array of delightful food accompaniments for the afternoon. On her latest visit to Champagne, Liz had been able to procure a lovely packet of authentic ‘Roses de Reims Biscuits’ Champagne biscuits, used primarily as a palate-restorative by the locals whenever they partake of some bubbly. Combined with an exquisite helping of locally: (Champagne) crafted pork liver pâté, cheeses, crackers, and Californian berries (where else?), it was assuredly clear that all things edible only served to enhance what was truly a lovely Champagne-and-sailing outing … utterly worthy of mention in the inaugural column of ‘Wine Waves’.

Julian Hitner, Sommelier

Bud break In Champagne-Ardenne (Aube)

A new cycle is under way – the vines are budding vigorously. The winter has been long and cold, with a very short spring this year. The current weather is more summer-related, and the sudden growth of the vegetation is exceptional – local growers believe unprecedented!

To date, there has been no frost this year and it looks like it will hold off – the traditional wait is May 11, 12 or 13 (days renowned for potential frost – Saints de Glace).

The buds look like brilliant green butterflies on the vines. The clusters are beginning to appear and the campaign of protection against mildew will be commencing soon…..a new cycle is under way….

Photography by Ryan Ebner