Spec me Some Good Champagne

Has anyone been around the Champagne region in the winter months? Is it worth going?

Usually me and the wife go to a European City for our anniversary the weekend before christmas (Bruges, Rome and Budapest so far) but just wondering if a trip to Champagne might be worthwhile.

Obviously i don't expect any nice weather but are there nice towns to stay etc or is it just champagne houses spread out that you drive to and walk around?
 
Marvt74 said:
Has anyone been around the Champagne region in the winter months? Is it worth going?
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There's a Christmas market in Reims, and the cathedral is awesome. I basically skipped Reims this year, save for visiting the cathedral. I went on the tours of the famous cellars ~25 years ago; they were pretty much all the same.

http://www.reims-tourism.com/Discover/The-major-events

A Champagne Christmas (Noëls de Champagne)

From November to December 2014

Reims and the Champagne region celebrate Christmas by hosting a long series of cultural events and unique activities.

The Trail of Cribs winds its way through Champagne's winecountry villages. A Christmas Village and craft markets, musical shows and the opening of Santa's House lend the region a festive holiday atmosphere.
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Not sure if anyone has one near them as its more a Lancashire/North West type supermarket but Booths has a deal on 3 for 2 on any wines over a tenner.

Fortunately this also includes Champagne. Their prices whilst not massively cheap are around standard market rates so this deal offers some excellent saving opportunities.

I've just bought a bottle of Laurent Perrier, Loius Roederer and Pol Roger (All standard NV expressions) which came to £72. Also bought 3 bottles of Gremillet which worked out around £13 a bottle and 3 bottles of Chapel Down NV Brut which were around £12 each.

On top of this if you buy 6 bottles or more of wine then you get 5% off and if you have a booths card you get an extra 5% off.

It's a huge shame that i'm fairly skint at the moment or i'd be buying in pretty massive bulk!
 
I've just had a nice Louis NV (some of the white labeled previous NVs had been very sharp). I also picked up some of the newest vintages. They have the 2008/2007/2009s out (I think that's what it was) so I got a 08 rosé and an 07 brut.

I've actually just paid for, as I'd forgotten to (pay by transfer and not by card) a bottle of '85 Krug. It's my wife's birth year and being her 30th in March, I was looking for a suitable bottle to go with that. Bargain, I have to say. :o luckily she turns 30 once :)
 
Not tried it myself, agree the price looks nice. Have some pasted info:

The Krug vintage 2000 Brut smells strikingly redolent of sea breeze, kelp, and piles of oyster and mussel shells, allied to lemon oil and toasted hazelnuts. On the palate, the aforementioned elements serve for compulsive salivation, while a lusciously juicy amalgam of lime, grapefruit and apple tinged with piquancy of their pips buoys the salty wave of mineral matter into a profoundly protracted finish that bursts with brightness and at the same time reveals mouthwateringly savory crab shell reduction and a hitherto largely hidden dark side of smoky Latakia tobacco, dark-roasted coffee, and toasted grains. Expect this to merit following for 12-15 years. David Schildknecht 95/100.

Brioche, dried pear, smoke, almonds, chamomile and wild herbs are all laced together in Krug's 2000 Vintage. A wine of striking depth and resonance, the 2000 is absolutely gorgeous today. The first signs of very early tertiary complexity have begun to appear while the acidity is softening, both of which make the 2000 delicious today. At the same time, there is no hurry. I imagine the 2000 will still be gorgeous 20 years from now. Slight elements of reduction linger on the close. The blend is 43% Chardonnay, 42% Pinot Noir and 15% Pinot Meunier, a rare vintage in which Chardonnay is quite high. ID 313041. -- Antonio Galloni 95/100.

Both have long drinking windows so no hurry to enjoy it.
 
Rats, not to self don't delay when spotting a good deal. They also had Taittinger Comtes de Champagne for £70 but that's back up to £125 now :(


tAB - You're in the wine trade (if I remember rightly), do you have any contacts who might be able to locate something for me? When I was in Rome about 2 years ago I saw a boxset which contained a bottle of Bollinger and a Bollinger branded champagne sabre. Sadly I couldn’t buy it as we only had carry on luggage. But I’ve never been able to find it in the UK or online!
 
Afraid that's a bit of a difficult one for me to sort as we mostly work with our own agencies. We do buy some Bollinger occasionally though so I can ask. Not sure I'll get a cohesive answer pre Christmas though :).

Is this the kind of thing you mean: http://www.winedancer.com/contents/en-uk/p2616.html?

£89 with Bolly inside, not sure you could mount a cavalry charge with that sabre though.

For the Krug 2000 you can buy it from Bindex for £156 all in (as much as it pains me to say). Looking back, our price was £150 too but we only listed by the case (of 6) and sold out rather fast.
 
Yeah a bit like that but the entire thing was Bollinger branded (included the box and sabre), it just seemed to look a much better product rather than one of these cheaply thrown together packages.

I'm happy to admit I might be romanticing it in my head though as it's quite some time ago I saw it.

I'm starting to wish you hadn't mentioned Bindex (I assume that Bordeaux Index), they have a bottle of Salon de Mesmil for £200 which is a hell of a lot cheaper than anywhere else I've seen it.
 
That's IB and I would check the provenance before purchasing. It's about market value for the 1997 at present. Salon have got a batch of 97 still on the lees in their cellars which we may see at some point in the next year or two. I expect this will be at a higher price when it does come, although should be much better too.
 
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