Tasting at G.H. Martel in Champagne

The CIJP organized a day trip to Champagne last weekend, which included a visit to the winecellars of a champagne producer, G.H. Martel, in Reims. Unfortunately, it's not where any of the processing goes on anymore, since they moved to accommodate increased production volume. There are lots of similar caves in Reims, a short distance from the city center.



The Champagne-Ardenne region is the most northerly wine-growing region of France, and one important role of the caves is indeed to maintain the humidity (90%!) and temperature of the wine. It feels quite chilly down there, even more than above ground, because of the damp air.



The Methode Champenoise process for making sparkling wine is very involved and costly , since no machinery is allowed in picking the grapes, the juice must be extracted very carefully to keep from tinting it with the skins of the pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes, the stored bottles must be turned (sometimes by hand) regularly and because the carbonation requires a second fermentation. Of course, for a long time, producers have tried to adapt technology for making the process more efficient. Now there are machines to turn the bottles and, even more bizarrely, the yeast is removed after the first fermentation by turning the bottle upside down to collect it in the neck of the bottle, freezing the neck, and opening the bottle to make the plug of solids pop out. This process is not done at the degustation site, but they show visitors a video of it. The older gadgets looked a little like torture machines at first glance.



The caves in Champagne are dug out of very chalky stone, so soft that a fine powder rubs off on your fingers if you touch it. This place where the stone was chipped away scarily made me think of the faces of the Nome king and his monsters that swim through stone in the movie Return to Oz.



After the tour, there was the tasting, of course! It may seem strange that we started with the Grand Cru, but it had a classic fine brut champagne flavor, while the following champagnes, a millesime (made with juice from only one year's harvest), a demi-sec (slightly more sugar), and a rose, were variations from what most people think of in champagne.



If you're interested in visiting, G.H. Martel has various locations listed on their website, including the cave we went to located at 17 rue des Créneaux, in Reims, and their telephone number is +33(0)3 2682 7067.

Nearby is the Basilique St. Remi, where the bishop who baptised the first Catholic king of France (on Christmas eve in 496) is entombed. Sorry, my picture turned out blurry and dark because of the dim lighting.