Our first full day in Champagne was truly memorable. The sky was blue and expectations were high as we headed south of Reims towards the Grand Cru village of Bouzy. Our first stop was Domaine André Clouet. This was also our first visit back in 2001 on the very first wine tour under my own label. Greeted by Victor and Erin, we took a tour of the historic family cellar which dates back to 1741, inspected the 1965 classic Citroen DS which got the car fanatics within the group very excited.
We walked past bottles resting ‘sur lie’, and saw the stainless steel tanks preserving the important reserve wines that are integral to Champagne production.
Victor talked about the very special vineyard: Le Clos which is adjacent to the family home – just 0.25 hectares, 100% Pinot Noir. The Le Clos vintage Champagne is only made in the best years, and only in magnum.
Jean-Francois Clouet then arrived and immediately took centre stage. He is an incredible character who is able to dynamise his surroundings and the people around him. 24 years after I first met him it seemed nothing had changed and time had stood still.
Into the tasting room and we settled into their excellent Grande Réserve followed by the 2015 Dream Vintage and then….Jean-Francois turned up again, not only with a group of five Germans but more importantly, a magnum of Le Clos 2006. An extraordinary wine that oozed complexity and richness and a snip at €200 per magnum. We rounded off the tasting with their excellent Cuvée 1911.
The estate now produces over 500,000 bottles per year and exports over 90% of its production.
A fabulous start to the tour.
From Clouet it was 650 metres to lunch at the delightful Le Bec Fin restaurant. This is a very popular (and rightly so) restaurant in Bouzy that was packed out as we arrived at 12.10. A delicious lunch ensued with a sumptuous asparagus and hollandaise starter, perfectly cooked cod and a sublime strawberry dessert – all paired with Grand Cru Champagnes from the village of Bouzy.
After lunch there was no time for a rest as our final visit was to Champagne Guy de Chassey in Louvois – another Grand Cru village and only five minutes from Bouzy. Guy de Chassey was a great contrast to Clouet. They only make 35,000 bottles but sell a lot of fruit to bigger houses. We were hosted by Héleène and Théo who did a great job of conveying the family history and current production.
After a quick tour of the cellar we tasted Champagnes with cheese – this was right up my street. Four superb cheeses: Chaource, Tomme de Savoie, Comté and Munster were paired with their different cuvées.
A different approach and the wines had a different feel and style to Clouet. It provided a great contrast and a great finish to the day.
