TOUR DE FRANCE… TOUR DE VINS!
Crossing the Channel
With a perfect sense of continuity the
next stage of the Tour with any real claim to wine fame just happens to be…Reims - the capital of Champagne country. So, in just a paragraph or two we’re shifting, from the marginal wine making regions of Nun Monkton and Holmfirth in North and West Yorkshire to the heartland of probably the best known wine region in the whole world. They do have something in common, however. Both areas represent the Northern most point in their respective countries for the growing of grapes. One area just happens to make significantly more money from its efforts.
Reims Cathedral
Stage 6 concludes in Reims, a delightful city with a magnificent cathedral where the monarchs of France were once crowned, and Stage 7 commences a short distance away in Epernay. The Montagne de Reims, a series of hills rather than mountains, separates these two cities and is home to some of the finest vineyards in the whole of the Champagne region. A hierarchical system of grape quality by village applies in Champagne with roughly 300 villages scattered around the region. At the top of the pile sit the 17 villages classified as Grand Cru and the Montagne de Reims is where more than half are located. The next in order of quality are the 44 Premier Cru villages, followed by 258 ‘ordinary’ villages.
Hautvillers
Hautvillers, a Premier Cru classed village in the Montagne de Reims, is where you’ll find the monastery in which Dom Perignon (1665-1718) resided. A Benedictine monk, he is the person reputed to be responsible for discovering the benefits of a second fermentation in the bottle the bubbles), otherwise known as the
Champagne Method. His claim to fame is not without controversy and there are some who suggest that the origins of the Champagne Method lie not in France but on these shores. One thing remains indisputable about the discovery - it wasn’t made in Yorkshire.
Off to the Vosges The riders leave Champagne and
move South East heading into the Vosges mountains before descending into the Rhine valley passing the vineyards of Alsace en route. Stage 8 takes the riders into one of the driest areas in France with assistance from the Vosges range and the distance of the region from the Atlantic drying the air and removing, or at least reducing, the rain. The wines of Alsace have something to suit everybody’s taste from a dry style Riesling through to sumptuously sweet Gewurztraminer. There are also some excellent white wines made from the lesser-known varieties of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Sylvaner.
If you haven’t tried any wines from Alsace, I recommend a Gewurztraminer with its very appealing lychee fruited nose and a fuller bodied palate with richness and depth of flavour. Most are made not quite dry and it’s the kind of wine that works very well with spicier dishes.
Vosges Mountains leisureAt your 73
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