December 2024 – Power Tasting – The Wine Tasting Experience

Clos Montmartre

Someday, you should visit Paris. And if you’ve already been there, you should go again. It is a city of great beauty, centuries of history, incredible food and, when the Parisians are in the right mood, joie de vivre. Of course, you didn’t need Power Tasting to tell you this. And what does it have to do with wine tasting, anyway?

The answer to that question can be found near the peak of the butte Montmartre, the hill in the north of the city. The Montmartre sector of Paris is famous for many things: as the hangout for many of the greatest artists and poets of the 19^th and 20^th centuries; the home of the can-can at the Moulin Rouge; the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart) that watches over Paris. We heartily recommend that you visit, have a meal and wander through the winding streets of the sector.

For those of us who love wine and wine tasting, there is a unique attraction there, known as the Clos Montmartre. It is a functioning vineyard within the borders of the city.

A little history is in order here. For most of its existence, Montmartre was not a part of Paris itself. It was a rural suburb of the city, specializing in wine production. Keep in mind that winemaking and storage techniques were for centuries not up to our current standards. That meant that most wine didn’t age very well; in fact it was best to drink it while it was young. So having vineyards literally just over the hill was quite advantageous.

The Clos Montmartre was attached to an abbey since the 12^th century and was planted then by the Abbess, Adélaïde de Savoie. The abbey was destroyed in the Revolution but the vineyard kept going. This continued until 1860, when the French Emperor decided to modernize Paris. Montmartre was incorporated into Paris, along with other then rural villages. It became the 18^th Arrondissement of Paris. Workmen and artists replaced vignerons and the vineyards were ripped out. In 1933, the local council decided to replant the oldest of them, the Clos Montmartre. It’s only 0.15 hectares and produces 1,700 bottles a year, which are auctioned off to support community projects in the 18^th Arrondissement.

Getting to the Clos Montmartre is a bit of a trek. The nearest Metro stop is Abbesses. Take the stairs (or better, the funicular) to Sacré-Coeur and walk around to the left, then past the Place du Tertre to Rue des Saules. Keep walking and there you are!

As a tourist, you can get a chance to taste the wine from this vineyard in October, when they hold the harvest festival (Fête des Vendanges in French). It is worth just walking by to see a vineyard in an urban setting and to reflect on its connection to so much history: the Middle Ages, the French Revolution, the rebuilding of Paris up to the present day. It is a gentle reminder of the history of wine and its place in the diets and pleasures of Parisians and wine lovers around the world.

A Day in Champagne

We have gone to the Champagne region for wine tasting in the past. The drive from either of the Paris airports seemed a lot easier on the map than behind the wheel. Once you’re there, the countryside is wonderful and the two major cities, Épernay and Reims are fascinating. And, of course, there’s all that sparkling Champagne to try. But let’s say you don’t have the time for several days of wine tasting or you have other things you want to do in Paris. Luckily, there are ways to enjoy a day trip from Paris to Champagne.

Don’t even think of driving. It’s a minimum of 2 and a half hours trip, much of which is spent navigating the streets of Paris as you leave town. And don’t forget, you have to drive home after a day of imbibing.

Pol Roger on the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay.

A better idea is to take a train. There are several each day from Paris to Reims that get you there in only 45 minutes. It takes longer to go to Épernay, an hour and twenty minutes on the fastest trains. All these trains leave from the Gare de l’Est, which is about twenty minutes by taxi from Montparnasse and longer from the Right Bank. (A friendly tip: the croissants at the coffee shop at the Gare de l’Est are delicious and are served warm.)

Yes, it takes longer to go to Épernay, but it is an easy walk to the Avenue de Champagne with one Champagne house after the other, many of which can be visited without a reservation. If you want to tour the cellars at the bigger names, such as Moët and Chandon or Perrier-Jouet, you will need to book in advance.

The Chagall windows in the Cathedral of Reims.

On the other hand, Reims offers other attractions besides wine tasting and has many more spots for a quality lunch while you’re there. The cathedral at Reims is an architectural wonder and the windows painted by Marc Chagall shouldn’t be missed. There are a few Maisons in walking distance of the train station and Mumm is in the center of town. You’ll need a taxi or an Uber to get to most of the better known Champagne houses. Three of them are in close proximity to each other: Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot and Pommery. You can walk easily from one to the other. But you’d better get your reservations closely aligned, with at least an hour and half at each. Lunch is an issue as well in that part of town. There are places to eat, but they’re all rather elegant and pricy.

Unfortunately, the last return trips back to Paris don’t allow a lot of time for a nice dinner, with the last trains leaving at 7:30-ish. However, you do have the chance to keep on with Champagne tasting. La Banque in Épernay and Le Parvis in Reims offer you the chance to compare Champagnes side-by-side and still make your train. Be careful, though. If you’ve been tasting all day, either restrain yourself at the Maisons or take it easy at the Champagne bars. If nothing else, you don’t want to miss your train!

Pommery

Of all the Champagne houses we have visited – and that’s quite a few – Pommery feels the most Californian. There is no Napa palace here but the architecture is palatial and it has its roots in the 19^th century. The grounds are enormous and are dotted with artworks. Pommery has added a large pavilion that shows that the proprietors have recognized that wine tourism is a business that attracts visitors to their brand. (A word about those proprietors: You may see the estate referred to as Vranken-Pommery. That’s because a Belgian fellow named Paul Vranken bought it in 2002.) But the cellars are ancient and the Champagne is the real deal.

The grounds of the Pommery Champagne house, with its “art works”.

Pommery is located in Reims, in a sector where several other Champagne houses reside, so you can easily walk from one to the other. Be certain to line up your schedule, since all the houses offer tours combined with tastings. The working property includes a Tudor-style castle and a French château. The pavilion adjoining these buildings contains the entrance to the cellars, a chic restaurant, some exhibits concerning the history of the firm and a Champagne bar. The most notable exhibit is called the Émile Gallé tun. A tun is a massive wine barrel; this one holds 75,000 liters. It was built to be shown at the 1903 World Fair in St. Louis and illustrates the friendship between France and the United States.

The pavilion at Pommery, with the Émile Gallé tun at the left and the Champagne bar in the center.

As mentioned, there are numerous artworks on the grounds although we were not enamored of the particular pieces being shown on our most recent visit. The dedication to art, both 19^th century and contemporary, is carried through in the cellars. These are reached via a staircase of 116 steps. (There is an elevator for those who can’t handle the stairs.) There is a history to the cellars, which were adapted from Gallo-Roman chalk pits. As the guide explains how Champagne is made and what the various areas in the cellars are used for, much attention is paid to the art installed throughout. Some of it is contemporary and edgy; others were installed when the cellars were created.

116 steps into the cellars!

Once the tour is over, you are led back to the pavilion where you can drink some bubbly. A glass of Champagne is included in the cost of the tour, at various levels of quality and price. Since each visitor gets only one glass, it’s not really a tasting, but it is possible to buy more glasses at the bar. There are comfortable seating areas in the pavilion where you can enjoy your drinks.

There is a certain sameness to all tours of Champagne houses (or for those of domestic sparkling wineries, for that matter.) All of the other attractions give a visit to Pommery a certain spice not found elsewhere. So does the history of the Maison. It was founded in 1836 and, under the management of the founder’s widow, it became one of the world’s largest producers, producing up to a million cases annually today. In the 19^th century, all Champagne was intensely sweet, with up to 300 grams of sugar per liter. Madame Pommery invented brut, which today must have less than 12 grams per liter. It’s worth raising a glass to her at the winery that bears her name just for that achievement.

France Isn’t California

If you’re an American who enjoys going on wine tasting trips, there are many places to go in your own country, but unquestionably the premier destination is California. On the other hand, if you are looking to have a wine tasting adventure abroad, the first place that generally comes to mind is France. At a very elementary level, the experiences are the same. You visit a winery or a tasting room; they pour you some wine; and you taste it. The resemblances end there.

Map courtesy of About-France.com.

California’s wine regions extend from Temecula in the south, through the Central Coast, to Napa and Sonoma counties and up to Mendocino and beyond. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are king and queen, thought there are sections that specialize in Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Syrah. While there is some regional variation, each winery offers a range of wines from different grapes.

In France, almost every sector grows its own distinct grapes, by law. Whatever variation you’ll find in a given winery is different levels of quality of wines from the same grapes. So, if you’re used to wine tasting in California, here are some tips for tasting in France.

Choose regions with the type of wine you like. This is as simple as choosing between red and white wine. Let’s say you’re starting in Paris. Go east for Champagne and further to drink Chardonnay in Chablis and even further for Riesling in Alsace. If you want reds, head to Burgundy in the east (where there’s plenty of Chardonnay as well) or south to Bordeaux or Provence.
Don’t just go to the most famous regions. There are so many high quality winemaking regions in France that if you bypass Chablis for white wines and go to the Loire Valley south of Paris, you’ll do quite well with Vouvray and Sancerre. If you go to the Southwest or Languedoc for red wines, you won’t taste a premier cru, but you won’t face the crowds and the costs either. Think of it as wine tasting in Santa Barbara instead of Napa Valley.
Most places don’t have seated tastings. At the same time, you will often need reservations to visit wineries in Bordeaux or Champagne. In much of France, you can just pull up to a vineyard and ask the person in the tasting room (often the owner) to taste their wines. If you can remember the olden days in California’s premier wine areas, much of France’s wineries are like what that was, but not anymore.
If you stick with a sub-region, wineries are fairly close to one another. In California, even if you stick to a specific AVA, say Russian River within Sonoma County, you’ll do a lot of driving. If you just do Pommard or Pauillac, you won’t need to go very far from one châteaux to another.
Oh, yeah, they speak French. If you do, too, then visiting is a breeze. These days, most French people can speak at least a little English so you can get by. A lot can be accomplished by pointing and smiling. Frequent use of the words s’il vous plait and merci is a good idea.