Page 184 - Lonely Planet Europe’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

THE SCIENCE OF CHAMPAGNE
Champagne is made from the red pinot noir (38%), the black pinot meunier (35%)
or the white chardonnay (27%) grape. Each vine is vigorously pruned and trained to
produce a small quantity of high-quality grapes. Indeed, to maintain exclusivity (and
price), the designated areas where grapes used for Champagne can be grown and
the amount of wine produced each year are limited.
Making Champagne according to the méthode champenoise (traditional method)
is a complex procedure. There are two fermentation processes, the first in casks and
the second after the wine has been bottled and had sugar and yeast added. Bottles
are then aged in cellars for two to five years, depending on the cuvée (vintage).
For two months in early spring the bottles are aged in cellars kept at 12°C and
the wine turns effervescent. The sediment that forms in the bottle is removed by
remuage, a painstakingly slow process in which each bottle, stored horizontally, is
rotated slightly every day for weeks until the sludge works its way to the cork. Next
comes dégorgement: the neck of the bottle is frozen, creating a blob of solidified
Champagne and sediment, which is then removed.

by a two-storey-high press dating to 1630.
FRANCE 13 CHAMPAGNE TASTER
Champagne bottle. From TRIP HIGHLIGHT Reservations can be
the ridge above the vil- 7 Le Mesnil-sur- made by phone or online;
lage, views stretch out in Oger ask about the availability
all directions across the of English tours when
Champagne countryside, Finish with a visit to the you book.
taking in a patchwork of excellent Musée de la Round off your trip
fields, farmhouses and Vigne et du Vin (%03 26 with lunch at La Gare
rows upon rows of end- 57 50 15; www.champagne- (%03 26 51 59 55; www.
less vines. Pack a picnic launois.fr; 2 av Eugène Guil- lagarelemesnil.com; 3 place
and your own bottle of laume, cnr D10; adult incl 3 de la Gare; menus €18-26;
bubbly for the perfect flutes €12; htours 10am Mon- hnoon-1.30pm Mon-Wed,
Champagne country Fri, 10.30am Sat & Sun), where noon-1.30pm & 7-9pm Thu-Sat;
lunch. a local wine-growing c), which prides itself on
family has assembled a serving bistro-style grub
The Drive » Continue collection of century-old prepared with seasonal
southeast along the D10 for Champagne-making
7km, and follow signs to Le- equipment. Among the produce, simple as pork
Mesnil-sur-Oger. tenderloin with cider and
highlights is a massive potatoes. There’s a €9
16-tonne oak-beam grape menu for les petits.

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