60 DEPARTURES TRAVEL RAISE A GLASS loftiest houses—Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, an hour’s drive to thenorthof Troyes. The cities of Reims and Epernay, more than meantthe try” vast vineyards around the chalk plateau ofchampagne country. and cutsadeeptrench through thedry flows through themedieval city of Troyes About 70 milesfrom itssource, theSeine abbeys, and World War IIbattlegrounds. towns, Viking strongholds, monastic historic encampments, ancientRoman Channel snakes through history, pastpre in northeastern Burgundy to theEnglish capital. Its journey from afieldofsprings eight of which runthrough theFrench ments. But theriver is483mileslong,only esque bridges andoffers vistas ofitsmonu in half,thatflows beneaththecity’s pictur Seine only asthe waterway thatcutsParis who know thecountry well, know the MANY VISITORS TO I used to think that “champagne coun its banks. lesser-known bubbly-making region on Sciolino Elaine biography of France’s mostfamous river In anexcerpt from The OtherChampagne France, even those Photographs by Clanet Céline falls inlove with the - - - - The Seine, The Seine, designated plots of land in France. be made from grapes grown on officially be labeledasauthenticchampagne must only sparkling wine in the world that can as their way ofdefining excellence. The adhere to classifications andhierarchies can produce champagne. The French me along on atrip, I never say no. food writers, and when heoffers to take Ribaut isoneofFrance’s mostrespected from acrystal flute onariver cruise.But suggests sipping the pale, bubbly beverage and invited me to discover them with him. part of Champagne that borders the river produced inthelushbutlessprosperous told me about the underappreciated wines one day my friendJean-Claude Ribaut where mostchampagneisproduced. But them—are situated intheMarne Valley, Dom Pérignon, andBollinger among Under French law, notjustanyone Champagne ontheSeine? The phrase her new ,

tion to thetrade fairs of Troyes, where and counts. There was easy transporta Its wines were soughtby thearea’s dukes the wealthiest of thechampagneregions. the hamlet of Villeneuve. headed several milesfarther southeastto by train to Troyes, thenrented acar and region. We traveled southeast from Paris Bar, the main growing area of the Aube ent kind of champagne in the Côte des Ribaut andI went lookingfor adiffer able than ordinary French farmland. pagne grapes canbe200timesmore valu year, andlanddesignated to grow cham pagne industry now pullsin$6billiona are onslopesthatfacesouth. The cham close to forests. Most designated vineyards neither too vulnerable to frost nor too not too rich,itssubsoilchalky, itsfields In the Middle Ages, the Aube became Early onefrigidJanuary morning, Champagne topsoil must be light and Devaux’s Manoir The Seineflows by Champagne département. in theAube - - - - - 62 DEPARTURES TRAVEL RAISE A GLASS created their own identity. The northern vignerons have asserted themselves and for champagnehasgrown, thesouthern houses up north. to selltheir grapes to thebigproduction Aube vignerons found itmore profitable nations ofgrand cruor premier cru. The ern vineyard received thehighest desig reputation clungto theregion. No south to qualify. Nevertheless, thesecond-class which allowed the vineyards ofthesouth conditions like climate andtopography, champagne regions according to growing Assembly passed alaw that defined the another 16 years before theNational or “ChampagneofSecondRank.” It took Champagne 2e Zone—“Low Champagne” a designationasBasse-Champagneor Aube champagnemakers were granted unhappy compromise was reached: The grapes—of the south rioted in protest. An vignerons—cultivatorswine nation. The of excluded the Aube from champagnedesig houses to thenorth,inMarne Valley, smile onthe Aube, however. In1911,thebig and Italy came to buy. Fortune did not merchants from as far away as the Rhône But inrecent years, astheglobal thirst - - - tion. A previously well-kept secret: The the Comité Champagnetrade associa cent) ofglobalproduction, according to resenting just a fraction (less than 25per than 20,000 are located in the Aube, rep yards intheChampagne AOC, fewer single-vineyard champagnes are common. where single-variety, single-vintage, and a purity inthe Aube’s champagneoutput, Riceys, famous for its still Rosé des Riceys. region, with thenotableexception ofLes Yet thisisfirmly achampagne-producing champagne region ofReims andEpernay. producing Chablisthanto the well-known geologically much closer to Chardonnay- sun, rain, region, and authenticity. roir, an elusive concept that involves soil, they grow themselves. They focus on ter champagne intheir own way from grapes to besmallandindependent,making sanal, creative feel. The southerners tend south have becomedesirable for their arti big-name luxury. Champagnesfrom the blending, produce maswively, andevoke champagne makers rely onsophisticated Out ofabout84,000 acres of vine Emphasis ontheterroir contributes to The Côte desBar isgeographically and The dining room at Clockwise from top: family vineyard. Renoir; the Fleury Pierre- to Essoyes, long home objets; a tasting in ofcollection vintage featuring the owner’s Le Jardin, in Troyes, ​Auguste ------Renoir’s paintings. that have been matched with images of ing of two champagnes out of ten choices village andRenoir’s homeincludesatast walk from the Ource River; atour of the a two-story stone housethat was ashort Auguste Renoir lived for many years in ied. Then there isEssoyes, where Pierre- spent thelast years ofhislife andisbur where French president Charles de Gaulle might stop inColombey-les-Deux-Eglises, bottle madefrom empty bottles.Or you an enormoussculpture ofachampagne sur-Ource, whose entrance is marked by might passthrough the village ofCelles- ducted by the vignerons themselves. You might get aprivate tour andatastingcon roads to modest vineyards where you yourself driving onlittle-traveled back In thesouth you are more likely to find appointments mademonthsinadvance. after another, and many are openonly by champagne domainesare linedupone its to the huge houses up north, where houses doesnotrank onthescaleof vis outside France. Aube’s champagnescannow bebought

A tastingtour ofsouthernchampagne - - - - 66 DEPARTURES TRAVEL RAISE A GLASS The Aube desoiseaux.com. Rooms from $210; champ​ furnished with antiques. stone floors and are original exposed beams and guest rooms. They have restored and rebuilt with 12 timber-framed building was The hotel’s centuries-old displays of stained glass. France’s most beautiful St.-Paul, which holds one of Cathédrale St.-Pierre-et- Oiseaux Stay at the best hotels in the region. (pronounced The city of Troyes STAY vouette-et-sorbee.com. Buxières-sur-Arce; Vouette & Sorbée horiot.fr. Olivier Horiot 33-3/25-38-57-45. Marie-Courtin montgueux​.com. Montgueux; Jacques Lassaigne champagne-fleury.fr. Fleury champagne-drappier.com. Drappier champagne-dosnon.com. Avirey-​Lingey; Dosnon & Lepage champagne-devaux.com. Devaux purchased in the U.S. them. Their wines can be some of the best among public tastings. Here are or so specific domaines for Route Festival selects 20 end of July, the Champagne Once a year, toward the tastings by appointment. welcome visitors for private département, and most pagne houses in the Aube There are some 70 cham CHAMPAGNE PRODUCERS Essentials

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raviolo. or draped with a giant with pickled strawberries favorite, either in a salad sea. Its lobster is a local featuring products of the cuisine, predominantly for creative contemporary Troyes, is the place to go Le Valentino base. sauce or in a rum-pineapple served with a rich butter Scottish salmon, which is enthusiasts should try the with champagne. Fish grilled, sautéed, poached prepared several ways— unadventurous. Here it is and not suited for the intestine and stomach, a sausage made from pork famous for its andouillette, Le Jardin EAT rhodes.com. from $210; maison​ relaxation spot. area is an intimate of the cathedral. The pool garden that offers a view courtyard and a medieval surround a delightful 12th century. Its rooms that dates back to the door, built on a foundation Maison de Rhodes Or try the renovated champagne-drappier.com cellar where they are aged. produced and a tour of the look at how the wines are Guests also get a firsthand its renowned champagnes. accompanied, of course, by spreads for groups, meals or buffet-style family prepares four-course dining experience. The Urville, offers an intimate The dessert. cream, is a must for chocolate and saffron mille-feuille, updated with Drappier fb.com/lejardintroyes The classic levalentino.com , in Troyes, is , also in winery, in Rooms de next next ​

so clean that my father drank from it when he was a boy. channeled into acanal. I tell them here the Seine water is Seine isartificial,aregulated flow ofdark,murky water really theSeine? The sameSeine?’For Parisians the who comehere andseethe water andthey ask,‘Is it borders the Seine,” said Gillet. “I have friends in Paris puniest rowboat. feet deep, too shallow for aboat,except perhapsthe Here, the Seine isabout30 yards across andonly a few The Seine! We were 50milesnorthoftheriver’s source. long iron railing. Below us was afast-moving stream. the garden. We found ourselves standing infront ofa through thesidedoor andalongapaththatcutthrough eral taste. This was not subtle, fruity elegance. much ofthe champagne up north, with adistinctive min aut. “Very much an acquired taste.” It was stronger than Pinot Noir grapes. “Powerful, alive, eccentric,” said Rib was aDevaux Grande Réserve Brut mademostly with champagne. We tasted several vintages. Among them that every year theDevaux would receive 60bottlesof house was includedfor free—almost; thecondition was and solditto Gillet, hisdistributor, in1987. The manor Devaux, the most recent family owner, had no children, the Devaux family created in 1846: Jean-Pol Auguste let explained how hecameto own thedomaine, which tic white tastingroom. As we sampledthe vintages, Gil table with built-in metal spittoons dominates afuturis tower, adovecote, andacenturies-old well. A large tasting let. Its Manoir is a large 18th-century manor house with a Devaux, to meetitsrecently retired owner, Laurent Gil RIBAUT AND I FIRST Jean painting An imageof Renoir’s “This is the only champagne house in France that Gillet hadsomethingspecialto show us.He ledus inEssoyes. Gabrielle et stopped at the estate of Champagne stopped attheestate ofChampagne - - - - - RAISE A GLASS TRAVEL DEPARTURES 67 ------Tout Tout and swim and swim gîte —a vacation simple gîte ”—“Absolutely!” I knew I would be back. be would I I knew His son Benoît stopped by at at by His son Benoît stopped The location offers a place to pic a place to The location offers By now, Ribaut and I had been been Ribaut and I had now, By intoxicated has passion Fleury’s all to myself. The Seine is my private private my is Seine The myself. to all pool.” swimming expected him to give me a look that give him to expected American said, “Who is this crazy a lives who of a certain age woman wants but Paris in life sophisticated gave he Instead, river?” a in swim to “ smile and replied, me a broad fait! à him if he that moment, and I asked yes, in the Seine. “Ah, swam ever he said. “I often in the summer,” it is hot when a swim for down go it I have work. with and I am done she sells wine—as well as the fam the as well wine—as sells she Colette, wife, His champagne. ily a operates can accom rent—that for dwelling is a garden 25 people. Its modate The the Seine. from throw stone’s the of bottom the clear, is water not thick and mucky sandy, river Paris. in Seine the of floor the like if Fleury I asked swim. to nic—and the I could come to I warmer. was when weather the vines, the sky, and the planets,” he planets,” and the vines, the sky, respected.” be must “It said. more champagne for tasting Fleury bet was vintage Each than an hour. All of them than the one before. ter land. the of taste mineral the held His sons, Benoît and his children. the joined have Jean-Sébastien, Mor business. His daughter, family shop in has opened a retail gane, where neighborhood Marais Paris’s cal life of the earth, and explains that explains and earth, of the life cal will produce crystals rock ground photo improves which “hornsilica,” bottle cham does not He synthesis. winds blow local harsh when pagne is the moon is full. “There when or the earth, thea connection among ------Eventually, he poured his curi he poured Eventually, Fleury had wanted to escape escape to wanted had Fleury Ribaut and I traveled deeper into deeper Ribaut and I traveled which enhances the microbiologi which also incorporates some of his own some of his own also incorporates hand. cut by are The grapes theories. the importance of using extols He “horn create to dung manure,” cow philosopher Rudolf Steiner in the in the Rudolf Steiner philosopher for respect on 1900s, centers early Fleury and ecosystems, earth’s the enterprise—a first in all of cham first enterprise—a farming, Biodynamic country. pagne the by based on principles developed osity and love of science into the the into of science and love osity transformed he 1989, In vineyard. a biodynamic vines into the Fleury us. “But I was the only son. I gave son. I gave the only was I us. “But vines.” the to over myself ness. But his father ordered him to him to ordered his father ness. But high education after quit his formal was on the farm. “I school and stay told he unhappy,” truly upset, truly rural life. He dreamed of becom of dreamed He life. rural he first at and astronomer, an ing busi family the into go to refused grandfather was a pioneer and a and a a pioneer was grandfather said. Fleury rebel,” full recognition for their champagne, their for full recognition as role a key played Emile Fleury “My of the movement. the secretary loudly on the hour. For four genera four For hour. on the loudly has grown family tions, the Fleury In 1911, Valley. in the Seine grapes demandedvignerons Aube the when stands next to a 12th-century stone a 12th-century to stands next but ago, years closed was church—it ring to still programmed its bells are the look of a man who is close to the is close to who the look of a man champagne 37-acre soil. His family’s Courteron,of village the near estate, into champagne, Fleury was born born was Fleury champagne, into complex his ruddy With it. into he retains ion and callused hands, champagne country with a vintner vintner with a champagne country Unlike Fleury. named Jean-Pierre way his bought who Gillet, friend his I tell them I spent my childhood childhood them I spent my I tell Seine.” the in swimming