Blogs from Epernay, Champagne-Ardenne, France, Europe

My last day, I decided that while I was here I would do a day trip to Epernay, kind of the center of the Champagne houses. So, after a quick breakfast with my friends, I bid them adieu and got on my train. After two switches, I had finally arrived in Epernay. I had absolutely no plan here, so I just kind of followed the crowd a bit. I walked through a garden just outside the train station and emerged onto Avenue de Champagne. My first stop was to visit the Museum in the Chateau du Perrier. The chateau was built in the 1850's, but was used during both world wars as first an infirmary then headquarters. It has two accessory buildings which were the caretakers quarters and stables, and now house the ticket office / ... read more

Unless you are a golfer or cyclist, you probably never thought about shipping your equipment ahead to your destination. Shipping golf clubs, to far off places like Scotland, Spain, or even Hawaii is a lifesaver, particularly when I have other stops along the way. It was a real pain to carry our clubs through downtown London before heading up to Scotland for a week of golf. The same is true for cycling, even when renting a bicycle. My recent cycling trip to Bordeaux involved one stop prior to the week of cycling, and two stops after. I hate the thought of carrying my equipment up three or four floors without an elevator.I shipped my cycling equipment ahead to my first hotel in Bordeaux. My bag included: helmet, cycling shoes, spindles, cycling clothing, extra ... read more

Here is a brief collection of insights I have found about my favorite sparkling wines. Regarding drying your champagne glasses: As a matter of fact, in order to maximize you Champagne’s effervescence, leaving a tiny bit of lint in your glass is paramount. As we all know, popping a Champagne cork reduces the tremendous pressure maintained in the thick bottle and releases the carbon dioxide dissolved in the wine. The gas molecules come suddenly out of solution and must collect together in order to form a bubble. Gerard Liger-Belair, a physicist (or “fizzisist”?) at the University of Reims and the world’s leading authority on bubbles, filmed Champagne using high-speed video and a microscope, and discovered that bubbles can form at a rate of 400 per second. ... read more

According to Winespeed: Non-vintage Champagne (designated NV on the wine’s label) is a blend of wines from different years’ harvests and from different vineyards and villages (crus) within the Champagne region. Non-vintage Champagne wines represent the vast majority of Champagne wines produced. (By contrast, vintage Champagne represents a little less than 6% of exports). Non-vintage Champagne wines are valued for their consistency year to year. By blending multiple vintages, each Champagne maker can maintain a “house style” that consumers can depend on. Amazingly, in some cases, the range of vintages in a non-vintage Champagne can span up to 20 years. By law, non-vintage Champagne wines need to age on the yeast lees for at lea... read more

Let me start by telling you what I have around the house to drink on a normal day. Is there such a thing these days, as a normal day? Many of you already know my every day sparkler is Veuve du Vernay, a brut rose' from Loire, France. Well under $10 a bottle, and quite good. And it can be found in the most likely and unlikely places, like Whaler's General Store in Hawaii!! My every day red wine is usually a Cabernet. My current favorite, though rather pricey, is an Inkblot Cab franc from Michael David Winery in Lodi. If you can't make the drive to (Stuck in) Lodi, it an be ordered online or purchased at Total Wines. If you go online, they are currently offering 35% off, their member price, on a case ... read more