This is the time of year when bottles of festive fizz fly off the supermarket shelves but for real wine buffs there is no substitute for the real thing. Champagne lovers take note – specialist wine tour operator Grape Escapes are taking visitors on a true journey of discovery with their ‘Source of the Sauce’ Tour. The visitors are invited not only to discover the tastes and nuances of different champagnes but to truly embark upon a voyage of discovery back to the source of the world’s most famous tipple. Prices start from just £423 per person.
Champagne has had a long and interesting history over the years. Legend has it that Benedictine Monk, Dom Perignon, first came across Champagne by accident when one of his barrels of fermented wine exploded at his Abbey in Hautvillers. Upon tasting this concoction he is thought to have proclaimed, ‘Come quickly, I’m tasting stars!’
Madame Clicquot reportedly took the process one step further. This inspirational lady devised the process of riddling using her kitchen table and it is thanks to her dedication that the champagne we drink today is clear and not cloudy. A trip to Champagne wouldn’t be complete without a tour of the Ruinart caves, the oldest of the commercial estates in Champagne. Visitors are invited to discover their Maison in Reims to learn the production process from vine to bottle.
To truly discover the origin of Champagne, we would recommend taking the Eurostar and enjoying a post-tour glass of Champagne at Searcy’s in St Pancras to round off the trip. After all it has been said that the English first invented ‘sparkling wine’ when an eight page document was found called, “Some observations concerning the ordering of wine.” This document (France’s most denied secret) was presented on 17 December 1662 to the newly formed Royal Society by a man called Christopher Merret, who stated,
“… Our wine-coopers of recent times use vast quantities of sugar and molasses to all sorts of wines to make them drink brisk and sparkling.” The English therefore invented Champagne and did it a whole six years before Dom Perignon set foot in Hautvillers, more than 30 years before the French made their first sparkling Champagne!
www.grapeescapes.net.