We travelled to Champagne with our 13-month-old Kidsetter. Staying in a magnificent chateau called ‘Chateau de Mairy’ simply took our breath away. A 17th century jewel set in 10 hectares of gardens and woodland. Located in a remote village of Mairy sur Marne, provided great access to explore the Champagne region. This was going to be our base for the next few days. Stunning !
We drove to Eparnay and visited the infamous Moet and Chandon champagne house. Enjoying a guided tour I didn’t realise we’d be embarking on 3 sets of stairs into the cellar. I had forgot to bring the baby carrier ! Whoops….
Our tour guide was an expert on all things ‘Moet’ and taught us some fun facts about the region. The Moet cave is approximately 20 kilometres of caves and they estimate 100km of caves are under Eparnay for all the Champagne houses. Currently there are 34,000 hectares of vineyards across the region. A few galleries hold up to 30,000 bottles. A monk named Dom Perrigon invented the technique of making champagne. The houses, each dedicated to world famous brands, are situated beside each other in a beautifully manicure boulevard dedicated to them called ‘Avenue de Champagne’.
We learnt that professional riddlers have the important job of manoeuvring the bottles slightly every hour until the bottle moves from a horizontal angle to a vertical angle with all the sediment collecting in the neck of the bottle. This process is a lengthy one, as the sediment creates the flavour of the champagne and needs to be actioned carefully. A couple of times I had to be very weary….our Kidsetter was curious about all these bottles and took it upon himself to become a Professional Riddler!
Our Kidsetter discovered the potential of his voice whilst on the guided tour. His voice echoed all through the caves. Our guide was many a time interrupted with his sounds. He was delightful and had everyone laughing and enjoying his development.
Ending the informative and fun tour in the Moet shop, partaking in a short champagne tasting. Delicious !
