– Do you want the Blanc de Blancs or the Brut?

– Nah, I’ll have the Rosé.

We felt pretty much at ease on day three in Champagne to order our umpteenth « coupe ».  Almost like the locals, I was tempted to say. But in fact I saw the locals drinking beer, gin, coke, cocktails and what not, but not champagne. Luckily there are hordes of tourists who do, just like me last weekend, spending a surprise weekend in Reims to soothe the pain of the big 4-0. Yes, yours truly reached the age when you start asking : will I die any time soon? Should I sell my house and buy a couple of Romanée Contis? Or quit my job and become a grape picker? So my wife organised a weekend in the Champagne region! Who knows me better than my piano? My wife does…

« We’re going to Champagne?! », I panicked when she told me. « Then I urgently need to do some research on which local grower we should visit! Because we should buy some champagne of course! » The champagne fever had gotten hold of me. A brief lucid moment made me realize that I actually already have quite a stash from last winter’s raid at the wine fair in Lille, France. But then the champagne fever took over definitively : « Well, we’ll just have to drink more champagne then, won’t we?! »

As it turned out, the end of August is not a good moment to go to Champagne. This is the last moment of peace for the growers before the harvest begins, so they take their well-deserved holidays. Already three or four had let me know that they were not available for a visit, when I spoke to the lady of Champagne Laherte Frères in Chavot. There they were already preparing the cellars for the coming harvest, which is exceptionally early this year. She must have heard the despair in my voice when I asked if we could not come on Saturday then instead of Friday, because she finally accepted!

It took us a while to find them, because they didn’t have any big signs anywhere. When we found them, we were greeted by two Frenchmen who were equally suffering from champagne fever. « Since you are from Belgium, we kindly ask you to turn around and leave. There are things you share and things you don’t share! » « Very well », I said, « let’s make a deal. If you no longer touch our beers, we will not come to Champagne anymore. » That seemed to be a convincing argument to let us stay. When the lady of the house went out to get something, one of our French friends continued in a hushed voice : « Seriously, these champagnes are damn good stuff! Unfortunately, the prices are accordingly! » I had not seen the price list yet, but I knew that their basic Brut cost 16,60€ in 2016. I was shocked to see that it now costs 25,50€. A 50% price rise over two years… I thought the locals had become immune to champagne fever, but it seems that at Laherte Frères they caught the virus as well… Luckily it has not yet damaged their capacity to make great champagnes! We tasted the biggest part of their range, and we loved most if not all of them. The Brut and the Blanc de Blancs (100% chardonnay) were very good, fine, elegant, fresh. I also loved the 100% pinot meunier, but it was quite pricy at 39,90€. The odd one out was a 100% pinot noir. The wood was quite strong in the nose (most of their champagnes are made with wines that are aged in barrels) but the champagne actually tasted like a red Burgundy… I found it hard to believe, I had never tasted anything like this. There was actually red fruit in there. We did not need more convincing, they have high quality champagnes at Laherte! We bought a selection and moved on.

Next stop : G.H. Mumm. One of the big houses, completely different than a small, local grower. But it’s nice to wander around in those endless cellars where it’s 12°C all year round. More than a 100km of cellars under Reims, it’s hard to believe, almost a second city under the city. And in a way, this is the heart of the city, a cold one, but beating strongly.  Mumm produces 7,5 million bottles every year. Mainly for the « emblematic » Cordon Rouge. Sophie, our guide, always talked about the « emblematic » Cordon Rouge. Luckily I did not get the « emblematic » Cordon Rouge  during the tasting at the end of the tour, as my wife had booked the Black and White Experience. Not that I would have minded drinking Cordon Rouge, but we got the RSRV Blanc de Blancs, a 100% chardonnay vintage champagne of 2012, and the RSRV Blanc de Noirs, a 100% pinot noir vintage of 2008. This is a high-end line of champagnes, one bottle costing 60€. The Blanc de Blancs was very fine, it had a beautiful mineral nose and a touch of Brie cheese, something that reminds me of the 2011 vintage of Dhondt-Grellet. The mousse, the bubbles, was very fine. A lovely champagne really! The Blanc de Noirs was the complete opposite, with more fruit in the nose, mirabelle plums, and a very round mouthfeel. Less my style of champagne.

Final destination, the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay, a stately avenue where a few big houses have their buildings. Moët et Chandon, amongst others, with a statue of good old Dom Pérignon, the friar whom is said to have discovered how you put bubbles in wine. We decided to peek inside out of curiosity and ended up in the shop, with techno beats and golden gadgets shattered between the « Doms ». It gave me a slightly uncomfortable feeling because I found myself between people who seemed to be in the final stage of champagne fever. People who are in this irreversible stage can be recognized by the following symptoms : taking selfies in front of a bottle of Moet Ice Impérial, loading your car with several cases of « Dom », or buying a Moët umbrella of 50€. These people are unfortunately beyond salvation, and need to be avoided. That’s why we decided to shuffle swiftly towards the exit without attracting anyone’s attention.

And that’s when we ended up on the inner court of Collard-Picard further down the avenue to enjoy a Blanc de Blancs and a Rosé. An appropriate ending to a feverish champagne weekend.

Back home the worst still had to come, I thought, as my birthday was only on Tuesday. I feared that moment and I expected I would need alot of champagne to get through that difficult day. But guess what, I got up, and I was still the same, nothing had happened. My hair had not turned grey overnight, I did not suffer from memory loss, and I did not feel the need to buy a motorcycle.

I opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate all that.