{"id":1401,"date":"2019-10-31T14:39:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T14:39:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1401"},"modified":"2019-11-04T19:15:10","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T19:15:10","slug":"champagne-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=1401","title":{"rendered":"Champagne \u2013 The Region"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many parts of the world\u2019s Wine Country where they make sparkling wine.\u00a0 It almost seems that every place that grows grapes makes some sparklers.\u00a0 They may call it champagne, but only one place makes true Champagne and that\u2019s in France.\u00a0 The Champagne region is about an hour and a half drive from the Paris airports and lies, generally speaking, in the area between and around the towns of Reims and \u00c9pernay.<\/p>\n

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The September harvest in Champagne<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, of course, any reader of Power Tasting<\/em> will want to visit Champagne in order to taste the wines there.\u00a0 But when you are there, there are many other reasons to enjoy the Champagne region.\u00a0 For one thing, it\u2019s a beautiful region of rolling hills and endless vineyards, with plenty of other farming where the land does not lend itself to growing grapes.\u00a0 We were fortunate enough to travel in Champagne during the harvest; the sight of the workers in fields bursting with fruit in the vines was inspiring, especially knowing the destiny of those grapes.<\/p>\n

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The Chagall windows in Reims Cathedral<\/em><\/p>\n

Both of the major towns are worth visiting.\u00a0 Reims has a magnificent cathedral that has had its unfortunate share of warfare, especially during the two world wars of the 20th<\/sup> Century.\u00a0 You can still see the marks made by artillery on the walls.\u00a0 Fortunately, the parishioners took down the rose window and preserved it from the violence, but the windows in the Lady Chapel at the rear of the cathedral were not so lucky.\u00a0 However, they were replaced after World War II with new windows by Marc Chagall that are among the most gorgeous works of stained glass, ancient or modern, to be seen anywhere.<\/p>\n

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The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) in \u00c9pernay<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00c9pernay does not have the an equivalent architectural marvel, although many of the buildings that house wineries are wonderful examples of 19th<\/sup> century imagination.\u00a0 You can see many of them on the Avenue de Champagne where some of the best known Champagne producers (and many lesser known ones, too) have their headquarters.\u00a0 [More about that in our article on wine tasting in Champagne.]<\/p>\n

Aside from the major towns, the Champagne region is full of history.\u00a0 We recommend that you look up the Routes Touristiques de Champagne (in English at https:\/\/www.champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk\/discover\/tasting-champagne\/cellars-vineyards\/the-routes-of-champagne<\/a>).\u00a0 It will show you all the little, out of the way places to visit.\u00a0 Then, drive around looking for the signs that point out all the turns on the routes.<\/p>\n

We are rather surprised at the lack of top restaurants in \u00c9pernay and Reims.\u00a0 You can get a good enough meal, to be sure, but the restaurants aren\u2019t up to the level of food we have come to expect in Wine Country, especially in France.\u00a0 However, in the smaller villages in the countryside, there are many small cafes and bistros, as well as grand gastronomic establishments, where you can sample fine French cuisine.<\/p>\n

Finally, a word about the name \u201cChampagne\u201d.\u00a0 Americans pronounce it sham-PANE<\/em>.\u00a0 But the French say shahm-PAN-ya<\/em>, sort of swallowing the last syllable.\u00a0 Of course it\u2019s their country and they have a right to say it their way (which is, after all, the right way).\u00a0 But an American, even one who can speak French tolerably well, feels silly saying it their way.\u00a0 Okay, you want to blend in so try it the French way.\u00a0 But believe us, you won\u2019t blend in anyway.\u00a0 They can tell a tourist from kilometers away.<\/p>\n

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There are many parts of the world\u2019s Wine Country where they make sparkling wine.\u00a0 It almost seems that every place that grows grapes makes some sparklers.\u00a0 They may call it champagne, but only one place makes true Champagne and that\u2019s in France.\u00a0 The Champagne region is about an hour and a half drive from the … Continue reading Champagne \u2013 The Region<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1405,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401\/revisions\/1405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}