Sante! To Champagne!

Beneath the streets in some 100km of subterranean cellars, 200 million bottles of champagne, just waiting to be popped open for some sparkling celebration, are being aged.

Foodie moment

So for our time in Epernay we have come to a realisation that there is a high chance that our 'foodie' moment will not be about food... This is because we are eating cheap here so we can afford to visit the Champagne houses and enjoy the bubbles! So it may turn into a bit of a Champagne appreciation area

'Contesse Lafond' was our first Champagne house we visted in the Champagne region of France. Served only in restaurants in France, we tasted 4 of their champagne varieties, Extra Brut, Brut, Necteur and Rose. The Brut was the most traditional and our favourite, but all were delicious. Yet with bottles starting at 30 Euros we were expecting it to be pretty amazing!

Still budget conscious we didn't buy any 'Contesse Lafond' but instead 'splashed out' on a bottle of Medot Champagne for 14 Euro. It was great for the price.

Cultural moment

The alcohol in France is incredibly cheap. A six pack of beer costs only 4 euro ($5) and you can buy wine for as low as 2 Euro. This might be because of their proximity to the source, therefore cutting down on importing costs, but it sure is cheaper than Australia!

France does not sell Baked Beans in a can, without little sausages in it, strange.....

Wow moment

Although the weather was wet today, the drive into Champagne was still quite stunning. A patchwork of fields filled with bright yellow flowers, green grass and rows of orderly vines. Tiny little villages with stone houses, small windy roads and cobbled streets. Hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow, to show more of its beauty (and so we can get some pictures)

What we learnt today

Champagne is made out of one or a combination of three grape varieties; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. The differences in taste are due to the grape used and the amount of sugar added. The demi Sec (half sweet) champagne can have over 40g of sugar per litre! Obviously the Sec (sweet) has even more! Wines produced in the region of Champagne with the Champagne grape are the only ones which are entitled to call their product 'Champagne' on the bottle. Due to popular demand for 'real' champagne all over the world, the government has decided to expend the boundaries of the province to include more wineries. This will mean a 30,000% increase in the value of those wineries so they will sbe worth 1 million Euro per hectare.