FEAST OR FAMINE

  I took a wine tasting tour in the Champagne Dom Caudron in Passy-Grigny, a village in the Marne Valley of the Champagne wine region in north-east France.    The village of 320 inhabitants – grape growers – joined together to form a cooperative after the priest Aimé Caudron gave them the idea, because the families alone could not affort the expensive wine-making equipment. The priest was an iconic epicurean and vine-growing figure in the village. And so, the cooperative was formed in 1929 with 23 vine growers – making champagne from entirely Meunier grapes.   The first vineyard covered 12 hectares, and it is now more than 130 hectares on the Marne Valley hillsides with more than 60 vine growers. MARTINA NICOLLS MartinaNicollsWebsite   Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website Flower Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS   is an international aid and development consultant, and the...

    I had lunch and a wine tasting tour in the small independent family-owned wine house, Julien Chopin, in Monthelon, 6 kilometres from Epernay in north-east France in the Champagne region.    Founded in 1947, the wine house has been in the Chopin family for three generations, making champagne and champagne ratafias.   MARTINA NICOLLS MartinaNicollsWebsite   Martinasblogs Publications Facebook Paris Website Animal Website Flower Website SUBSCRIBE TO MARTINA NICOLLS FOR NEWS AND UPDATES    MARTINA NICOLLS   is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author   of:  The Paris Residences of James Joyce   (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

I visited Champagne Taittinger in Reims, in the north-east region of France. Founded in 1734, it produces its champagne from 100% Chardonnay grapes, with its rosé from 70% Pinot noir and 30% Chardonnay grapes.    In 1734, Jacques Forneaux established a wine business in the Champagne wine region. Pierre Taittinger from Lorraine, France, bought the Chateau de la Marquetterie from the Forest-Fourneaux wine house in 1932.    From 1945-1960 Pierre’s third son Francois ran the company. He established the Taittinger cellars in the Abbey of Saint-Nicaise, built in the 13 th  century in Gallo-Roman chalk pits dating from the 4 th  century. After Francois’ death in an accident, his brother Claude took over the business from 1960-2005, making Taittinger into a prestigious Champagne House. Claude retired in 2006 and his nephew Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger replaced him as head of the business. In 2020, Vitalie Taittinger became president after 12 years as director of mark...