Situated amidst the flat plains of grain and corn in northeast France lies one of the great wine regions of the world, Champagne.  Jutting suddenly out of the placid golden fields are cliffs of white chalk  and  vine covered rolling hills struggling to soak in the sun, often shrouded by the grey hues of a ‘Champagne sky’.  Champagne effortlessly seduces both the novice and it's most ardent fan with a sumptuous feast of pearl shaped bubbles.  It invokes salutations of celebration, and seamlessly fits into breakfast, lunch and dinner with a perfect tension between richness and vivacity.

                 No other wine conjectures such a range of expectation other than Champagne.  And here in lies the clue that puts Champagne at the echelon of sparkling wines.  First and foremost it is a terroir driven still wine which happens to be delightfully effervescent. I embarked to Reims with many expectations, but with a focus of better understanding the style of the oldest champagne house in continuous production, Ruinart.

              A car collected three of the winners of the Ruinart Sommelier Challenge from Charles de Gaul airport and took us to the most bustling town in Champagne, Reims. We stayed at the chic and modern, Assiette Champenoise Hotel, a perfect marriage of modernity and function.  The design nods to contemporary designers, such as Ian Schraeger, but is tempered with small luxuries of 7 foot bath tubs and electronic black out blinds on two of the suite's patio.   

         After an hour of rest, we regrouped for lunch at the Le Café du Palais established in 1930.  Le Café du Palais is a family run restaurant that is situated across from the Palais de Justice (courthouse) and on one of the stops of the smart new commuter train that cuts through the heart of the city.  Frederic Panatios, the Chef de Cave for Ruinart joined us for lunch. He comes off as sharp and focused.  Perhaps Olivier Krug summed it up best one of our evenings out in Reims when describing him as ‘gutsy’. 

           We ate lunch under big umbrellas shading us from the persistent sun. It was a warm day, and we were told the weeks prior had also been uncharacteristically sunny. Later in the trip walking the Grand Cru vineyard of Chouilly, we would see the results of this cheerful weather in a fruit set that was two weeks ahead of the norm.  It was particularly easy to enjoy several bottles of Ruinart Blanc de Blanc NV, while eating plates of jamon, scallops, and bowls of fried potatoes, before touring the renowned Cathedral of Reims.

                             The Cathedral was the site of 25 coronations of French Kings, beginning with Louis XII in 1223.  Its façade is extravagantly decorated with gargoyles, angels and royalty. The interior is graced with golden chandeliers hung low on blue velvet cords and stained glass windows that date back to the 12^th century. 

         In celebration of it’s 800^th anniversary, one of the twin towers that spirals to the roof was open for touring.  We labored up the many stairs and entered the rooftop balcony whose view spills out overlooking the city and in the distance the Montagne de Reims.  The Cathedral illustrates the close ties between post-war France and the United states. Champagne was a nexus of conflict and bitter fighting during World War I . The roof of the Cathedral had been burned by German troops, and rebuilt using funds from the Rockefeller Foundation.   Its grandeur measured up to its reputation as one of the most important Cathedrals in France.

We travelled to the Ruinart estate, located on an expansive lawn with large trees.  The modest chateau sits on top of a great reservoir of ancient chalk quarried by the Romans to build the town of Reims.  We entered the sitting room flanked by oil portraits of the founder Nicholas Ruinart and his two wives before beginning the tour of the Crayèrs. 

                    The stairs leading into the depths of the cellar were steep and wide. As we descended into the darkness the sense of elevation change was more poignant than I had expected, and the chill of a perfect cellar temperature enveloped us. We wandered the chalk passageways ogling at the stacked bottles, with one arch numbering over 60,000 bottles.  Upon entering the first Crayèrs, the empty mass of the cavern impressed a feeling of smallness onto me. Crayèrs look like elongated Tandori ovens with the mouth of the top of the oven situated just underneath the lawn. These caverns were used throughout the history of the estate as a safe haven for the residents of Reims during the World Wars, as well as a gathering place for the owners who threw lavish candle lit parties deep into the night.  These stories lent allure to the cellar, but it was the slashes in the sides from Roman tools and the lone staircase that abruptly ended 10 feet above the current floor that imparted an ancient stillness and beauty to the Crayèrs.

Although Fred (as Frederic Panatois prefers to be called) had arranged for an in-depth tasting of  Ruinart, we were incredibly fortuitous to have had Master of Wine and Editor of FINE Champagne Magazine, Essi Avellan, visit Ruinart while we toured the Cathedral and Crayèrs. Where we would have enjoyed an excellent tasting of Dom Ruinart and Dom Ruinart Rose, we were now dazzled with an array of Magnums.

         Our first flight was an in depth tasting of Dom Ruinart. The cuvée, Dom Ruinart, was named after the uncle of founder Nicholas Ruinart, a Benedictine monk in the 16th century who urged his brother to enter into the Champagne industry. We tasted Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc vintages 2002, 1998, 1996, 1993, 1990, 1988, 1983,1981 and 1969.  As the wind picked up outside and the sky turned dark, we moved onto Dom Ruinart Rose, tasting vintages 1998, 1996, 1990, 1988, 1985, 1979. All of us felt privileged to be part of such a tasting. 

         moved to the new visitor center across the courtyard for dinner.  It was a modern and sleek room with wall paper that had Grand Cru Chardonnay leaves embedded into it to resemble the swirls of bubbles in a glass.  The magnums that we had just tasted had been brought over and placed on a cart, wheeled in and out of the room between each course.   The Cheese Cart is a wondrous part of dining, but a Magnum Cart reached unparalleled heights. I reflected on the care-free exhaustion that the last two days had brought as I wearily climbed into bed.

          The next morning we returned to the tasting room at Ruinart to begin an in-depth look at Blanc de Blanc’s throughout the region.  First to better understand the Ruinart style, we tasted two different blocks of 2010 base wine from Cramant, one from Avize and Sillery and a pre-blend for 2010.  Cramant provides good fruit and produces gentle wines while Avize imparts power and Sillery an earthiness and vibrancy.  Although 2010 had significant rain one weekend in August, little sorting had to be done for Chardonnay, since it is more resilient to rot.  The tasting of Blanc de Blanc flights began; five flights of five wines blind.  We used a glass of Ruinart as a reference point throughout the tasting and the wines were ranked individually after tasting.  Styles ranged from reductive to oxidative, and the influence of vintage, particularly 2005, became apparent as the tasting progressed. Discovering and dissecting personal preference always aids in developing a palette and this tasting will remain benchmark to me.

         After a brief lunch we headed to the experimental vineyards of the CIVC in the Grand Cru vineyard of Chouilly.   The CIVC recently completed a small conference building located in the midst of the vines.  Fields of grain scattered with blood red poppies contrasted sharply against the grey sky.  It was a windy day and we were told that this is often the case in Chouilly.  We sat down for a seminar on Champagne as a region, with the latter half of the seminar focusing on the environmental impact and challenges of the region.  Afterwards we walked the vineyard, observing a CIVC weather station that continually collects data, white fuzz covering the leaf of Petite Meslier, trellising systems and the distant Châlons-en-Champagne. 

The day and evening passed and we returned to the hotel in high spirits. The previous evening most of us didn’t have the fortitude from travel to stop into the hotel bar. This evening we were all feeling rejuvenated and decided to indulge in a nightcap. We were directed into the outside garden, as the bar and lobby was closed to a private party. We shortly learned that we were fortuitous again, as Olivier Krug was hosting a dinner for members of the International Press.

Charlotte Duntze was generous enough to bring out a glass of Krug Grande Cuvée for myself and Bridget, and an illicit Havana Club 15 year for others.  Charlotte did not partake and reminded us of our early departure time of 7:30 the next morning.  But as the Krug party dispersed onto the patio and we had an opportunity to meet Olivier Krug, the consequence of the morning departure slipped into the night.  We were generously bestowed a bottle of Grande Cuvée for our table and then again with the remainder of a Jerobaum of Grand Cuvée disgorged in 1995. If luxury was a cloak, we were all shrouded that evening in the garden by the earlier tasting at Ruinart and now our evening soiree.  I, determined, to bring the Jerobaum home in my luggage, carted it off to my hotel room hours later.

The next morning came quickly, and after a quick packing job (sans Krug bottle) we piled in the car that was taking us to the TGV, the high-speed train that would transport us from Reims to Paris. The TGV opened in June of 2007, shortening the duration of the trip to just 45 minutes. The train seamlessly cut through the flat country side and what seemed like straight into the center of downtown Paris.  We arrived early for our tour of the LVMH owned perfume house of Guerlain, and decided to stop at legendary pastier Ladurée. Enclosed in glass cases with attentive shop stewards waiting behind, were sheets of macaroons spanning the spectrum of the rainbow, croissants glistening with the gleam of butter encrusted in layers of pastry, and plates of miniature cakes covered in lavender fondant.  I ordered a simple, plain croissant, a confectionary wallflower in the sea of sweets.

The Champ Élysées was lined with large shopping centers and flagship luxury stores populated with faces of all nationalities intent on finding the ultimate Parisian purchase. The Guerlain boutique, part of the LVMH family, paid homage to the pre- modern Champs Élysées.  It was tiny in comparison to what flanked it in either side. Opening in 1914, the elegant spiral staircase was luminescent with 1 inch gold tiles.  The store itself had only minor renovation done on it since opening.  Over the next hour we were given a history of the fragrances of Guerlain, with scents sprayed on lacquered midnight black fans covered with black feathers which were gently swept under our noses to release the aromas.

  After purchasing cologne marketed to be reminiscent of Corsica in summer evenings, we made our way to the legendary George V, built in 1928 at a staggering cost of $31 million dollars. It was also destined to become one of the most memorable dining experiences of the trip.

           Our reservation was at 12:30, an early lunch. The hotel was awash in flowers a deep hue if royal purple. They were bound in bunches in the foyer, cascaded down long ropes over the fountain in the center court, nestled in-between emerald green sitting chairs. Everywhere was awash in color and perfection.  The dining room was formal, and this formality gave a cool stiffness to the room upon entering. That was until the renowned Restaurant Director, Éric Beaumard, and his staff enveloped us with their graciousness. From there the coolness of the dining room, only was a backdrop to the poised and warm service, often elusive and difficult to achieve at such a high level of execution.

Our menus were quickly whisked away upon being sat. An afternoon of blind tasting began with a magnum Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc 1996.  Pairings were pitch perfect, elevating the wines and Chef Eric Briffard's cuisine.  We reveled in deducing the wines in front of us and struggled when one of the wines was not ‘classic.’ Throughout the afternoon we tasted Château Grillet 2007, Château Chalon 2003, Domaine Ballot-Millot, 1er Cru, Meursault, Charmes 2008 out of magnum, Domaine J.L. Chave, Hermitage Rouge 2002 out of magnum, Domaine W. Schaefer, Riesling, Spatlese, Graacher Domprobst 2007, Graham’s Port 1977 out of magnum and opened with red hot port tongs tableside, and finally Domaine Mavela Liqeur de Cédrat Corse.     Flaming Baked Alaska’s marched to the table for our last course.  

  The afternoon ended on a high note and we dived into Paris for the remaining 48 hours of our trip.  Four days streams by with a blink of an eye. But when the experiences are so layered, the company so fine and bottles of Ruinart grace each meal, a brief four days turn into a fountain of memories.

In the end, I believe that the style of Ruinart is one of encompasses translucent purity, with a  richness that stays vibrant and elegant and was very impressed at the luminosity that was thread throughout the vintages we tasted.

Thank you to all of gracious hosts, especially The Guild, Dorothy Bakker Lee, Charlotte Duntze and Julie Murez for your time in France, and a very warm thank you to Fred.