Veuve Clicquot

My tour de France started in Reims today with a visit at Veuve Clicquot. This famous Champagne house can lay claim to a number of things. Madame Clicquot was one of the first female industrialists, when she took the reign more than 200 years ago. Her most audacious move was towards the end of the Napoleon war, when she managed to ship a large amount of Champagne across closed borders to St. Petersburg for the Russians to celebrate their victory. At the end of her time, she handed the business over to a German businessman. A French patriot she was not.

The caves are over 1000 years old, initially a quarry to build the city

 Old bottles stored in the caves

. The highlight at present is a bottle from the oldest Champagne find, from the early 1840s, which was discovered on the bottom of the Baltic Sea five years ago. Of the 168 in tact bottles on the ship wreck, 48 were from Veuve Clicquot (still keeping dominant share of the Russia trade). Three were giftet back to Veuve Cliquot. Apparently, the Champagne was quite drinkable, although the bubbles were almost gone, and the sugar content even higher than desert wines in today's times.

                                                 The old ship wreck bottle

I only tried the standard Veuve Clicquot blend. A special feature is that this Champagne is always predominantly made from red grapes, currently 50% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier. Only the juice is used, of course, so the colour is white to golden. The result is a relatively full flavoured wine, with a big mouthfeel. This Champagne is a bit fruity, but the flavours are complex. Dominant is green apple, but there is also raspberry and fig. The finish is not as crisp as I would have liked. This Champagne is best drunk as an aperitif, I think.




This was an interesting tour, and a good start. Tomorrow, the Champagne tasting will start in earnest.