ICE in champagne! I'm surprised Ruinart is such a popular vineyard, as it's almost an unknown option here in the States. I like it a lot. I know! Although I guess that Ice Imperial would be good to use in cocktails. It's supposed to be sweeter than regular champagne and very easy to drink. Whenever I asked people, including our tour guides, about their favorite champagne house tour in Reims, they answered Ruinart. I think that it's more about the tour than the vineyard, although I don't know what makes it better than the other tours since they were already fully booked when we went.
Taittinger is the only big one I've visited. We have our own smaller champagne grower, Forget-Brimont, that we love going to visit. When Relationnel and I learnt to jive about 15 years ago, our teacher turned up one night with some really nice champagne made by her father!
We need to got back there soon as our stock is nearly exhausted. The whole village is closed to traffic and the local winegrowers open their cellars to winegrowers from other parts of France. No champagne on sale during the weekend. The village turns into a wonderful wine and food fair. One of our very favourite venues. Thanks for including the name of your champagne grower.
I just googled Forget-Brimont and saw that it's not too far from Verzenay. It looks like another cellar to visit when Stephane and I return to Champagne We used to live in a wine growing region in Switzerland and going to the village festivals, etc. I love seeing the pictures of the old wine cellars. Have you ever read Wine and War? It talked a lot about the importance of wine in French culture and the homefront experience during the war.
I just took a look at Wine and War on Amazon and have added it to my next book order. Thanks for the recommendation. It sounds very interesting. While scanning the reviews, this quotation caught my eye: "To be a Frenchman means to fight for your country and its wine. I would say that a visit to the chalk caves of Taittinger really is a visit to a cathedral It really is, especially because the Taittinger caves are located on the site of a former monastery and the Pommery caves used to house France's lowest chapel.
