Just got back from a trip to France. We did a day in Reims and I had booked us the Veuve Clicquot Art of Aging tour to start our day.
Thoroughly impressive tour with a sensory training panel to start the program, then a jaunt in their cellars – along with a fantastic tasting & cheese pairing. This is the only tour at VC that you get to taste older vintages.
The difference between the 2015’s and the 199x’s is astounding. While the young champagnes are bright and incredibly bubbly, the older ones are fuller, with less carbonation, and more sticky marmalade notes. They reminded me of port in terms of mouth-feel and felt a bit sweeter than the young ones.
Ended up buying a bottle of that 1998 to take home with me. That was the stand-out from the tour.
After said tour and tasting, we bopped around a bit – hitting G.H. Martel, Pommery, Villa Demoiselle, and Ruinart. Sad we didn’t get to hit Tattinger, but they don’t do tastings without tours in the offseason.
AmericaLLC
The stairs out of the cellar are so cool!
giganticsquid
Did your burps echo in the cellar?
-simply-complicated
That’s awesome. I’ll have to add that experience to my to-do list. I know jack shit about champagne, but I’d enjoy learning.
hulkange
I have the 2015- I guess I should hold onto it longer?
6 Comments
Just got back from a trip to France. We did a day in Reims and I had booked us the Veuve Clicquot Art of Aging tour to start our day.
Thoroughly impressive tour with a sensory training panel to start the program, then a jaunt in their cellars – along with a fantastic tasting & cheese pairing. This is the only tour at VC that you get to taste older vintages.
The difference between the 2015’s and the 199x’s is astounding. While the young champagnes are bright and incredibly bubbly, the older ones are fuller, with less carbonation, and more sticky marmalade notes. They reminded me of port in terms of mouth-feel and felt a bit sweeter than the young ones.
Ended up buying a bottle of that 1998 to take home with me. That was the stand-out from the tour.
After said tour and tasting, we bopped around a bit – hitting G.H. Martel, Pommery, Villa Demoiselle, and Ruinart. Sad we didn’t get to hit Tattinger, but they don’t do tastings without tours in the offseason.
The stairs out of the cellar are so cool!
Did your burps echo in the cellar?
That’s awesome. I’ll have to add that experience to my to-do list. I know jack shit about champagne, but I’d enjoy learning.
I have the 2015- I guess I should hold onto it longer?
Post more pictures please!!