Virtuoso Life - November/December 2007 - (Page 60) TASTING NOTES the three varietals used in the production of champagne – cover gently rolling hills that slope up to crests topped with forests. The region’s grand cru villages dot the banks of the meandering Marne River and extend south and east from the important wine town of Epernay. Allow time to explore the ancient city of Reims and its magnificent cathedral, the site where 25 French kings were crowned, from Louis VIII in 1223 to Charles X in 1825. A visit to Champagne will immerse you in one of the cradles of French history and culture. The best season for touring is late spring through summer; fall harvest season can be colorful but crowded. Champagne caves are quite cool and damp year round, so it’s a good idea to take a jacket or sweater along. Touring these houses takes you from Reims in the north to Epernay in the heart of Champagne, and then to the eastern village of Tours-sur-Marne. Taittinger The oldest parts of Taittinger’s caves (called crayères in Champagne, from the French craie, chalk) were first excavated by Gallic slaves under the fourth-century Roman occupation to provide building materials for the growing city above. Look for the many curious grotesques carved into the chalk. In the thirteenth century, the caves were enlarged by the monks of the Abbey of Saint Nicaise, who used them to store the champagne in which they traded. While the abbey was destroyed in the French Revolution, well-preserved portions still remain visible in the tunnels. Dating to the thirteenth century, the historic Taittinger-owned house of the Comtes de Champagne, in the old quarter of Reims, is also worth a detour. One of the counts of Champagne, Thibaud IV, returning from Crusades duty in Cyprus, brought back to this very house the grape that would become a mainstay of the region: chardonnay. This variety is of particular importance to Taittinger, whose house style is lean, crisp, delicate, and chardonnay-driven, as best exemplified in the stunning 1998 Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs ($150), with its lovely richness and fresh finish. Cellar tours are offered daily from midMarch to mid-November (weekdays only 60 V I RT U O S O L I F E (THIS PAGE) KATRINA FLUTE, $75 AT FORTY FIVE TEN, (OPPOSITE) BACCARAT FLUTES, $185 EACH AT STANLEY KORSHAK
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