Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
themselves, including a 13th-century abbey
in Reims that had been pulled down during
the French Revolution.
They turned Caves Taittinger into one of
the oldest wine cellars in the world and one
of the most frequently visited. Crumbling
white caves date from the 4th century,
when they were actually Gallo-Roman chalk
mines. You get a suffocating sense of his-
tory standing in these uneven tunnels, with
ancient relics sitting in dusty nooks and
crannies. Elsewhere the tunnels turn into
dramatic vaulted rooms of brick and stone,
stacked with literally millions of bottles of
some of the world's best champagne.
In the 20th century the family went on
the attack and became one of the most
famous champagne houses in the world.
The breakthrough came in the 1920s,
when Pierre Charles Taittinger gambled
that Chardonnay would play a greater role
in 20th-century wine taste and invested
heavily by planting the grape in the win-
ery's many properties. The winery outma-
neuvered other champagne houses by
anticipating that Chardonnay would
become the queen of white wine, and also
part of the classic Chardonnay-Pinot Noir
champagne blend. Another brilliant move
was to forfeit the traditional French reserve
towards advertising: As far back as the
1960s, the winery was one of the first in
France to begin pushing their products.
The gambit paid off and sales boomed.
Just when it seemed the endgame was
in sight and Taittinger had the wine world
in perpetual check, disaster struck. A hos-
tile bid in 2006 caught the winery in a cor-
porate move. It looked like all was lost—the
family found itself without its prize. Yet
this being France and Taittinger being Tait-
tinger, the family used all its influence and
a white knight came to the rescue, in the
form of a French bank. The king was
saved.
Taittinger headquarters is now the his-
toric Chateau de la Marquellarie in Epernay,
26km (16 miles) south of Reims.Though it's
closed to the public, this famous house
from the age of the enlightenment is
surrounded by rolling vineyards that are
definitely worth a visit after you've checked
out the caves in Reims. Unusually, they are
planted with white Chardonnay vines
cross-hatched in the same fields with dark
Pinot Noir. Just before the harvest, the
fields take on a black-and-white tile pat-
tern—not unlike a chessboard. Suddenly it
all makes sense.
Caves Taittinger,
9 Place Saint-Nica-
ise, Reims (
&
33/3/26 85 84 33;
www.
taittinger.com).
(
Reims (29km/18 miles).
L
$$$
Mercure Reims Cathédrale,
31
bd. Paul Doumer, Reims (
&
33/3/26 84 49
49;
www.mercure.com). $$
Le Clos Raymi,
3 rue Joseph de Venoge, Epernay (
&
33/3/
26 51 00 58;
www.closraymi-hotel.com).
France
314
Moët & Chandon
The Blind Taster
Champagne, France
If myths are to be believed, Dom Perignon
was a blind monk who invented cham-
pagne, uttering the famous words to his
fellow brothers: “Come quickly! I am drink-
ing the stars!”
Unfortunately, the reality is a little more
complicated. The 17th-century cellar mas-
ter at the Capuchin Abbey of Hautvillers
did not invent champagne. Instead he
perfected the art of refermenting in the
