Hi, everybody. Bonjour! Welcome to Cépage et Cuisine, Mary’s and Brian’s
wine, food, and culture blog. Today was
our first full day in Champagne. The day
started and ended beautiful, but was rainy in between. France has had a lot of rain, more than
usual. As I write this post a few days
later, you may have seen the news reports of flooding in Paris and other areas
of France. This photo was our street in
Bouzy as I walked to the boulangerie for Mary.
Here’s Mary’s tarte aux framboises to begin the day.
As we were driving around,
I was reminded of Bordeaux in some ways.
First, the vineyards are vast. Here’s a photo from a street in Ay
(pronounced EYE-ee). The vines come down
almost to the pavement.
Second, there
are so many producers, about 35,000! They seem to be next door to one another for block after block.
We had a tasting
appointment scheduled for the afternoon, but when we got there, no one was
present. I went down the street to
Champagne Henri Goutorbe to ask them to call our scheduled host. No answer, but as I walked away a little
disappointed, one of the Henri Goutorbe staff invited me to see their facility
and taste their wine. We really
appreciated their kindness!
Here’s their modern
facility with their crusher-destemmers.
This old one is just for
decoration now.
On the advice of some
fellow wine enthusiasts, we had dinner at La Table Kobus in Epernay, a larger
town near us in the heart of Champagne.
The restaurant is en face à l'église, across the street
from the church, quite an impressive visual.
Our reservation was for
7:30 and guess what. We were the first
to arrive.
We’re almost always the
first to arrive. For years we have made
reservations for 7:00 and would have the place to ourselves. This year, we decided to push things back a
little so we wouldn’t always be first.
Still, we are usually greeted by the staff as the first to arrive. If you want to be fashionable in France, wait
until about 8:30 to show up for dinner.
Then, considering the typical French restaurant dinner takes more than a
couple of hours, don’t come on a weeknight when you have to get the kids bathed
and in bed.
Here’s the view from our window
at La Table Kobus.
The wine choice was a Moët
et Chandon Brut 2006, truly a stunning wine. I got curious about how easily they open these bottles without a pop, just a little whoosh of air. I'll go over that in a post in a couple of days.
It is about 40% each
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and the remainder Pinot Meunier. The aroma was fresh with floral and red and
citrus fruit aromas. The palate was
brisk with acidity, creamy on the palate with fine bubbles, and flavors of
lemon citrus but also some very fresh red berry notes.
It is just a beautifully
balanced and complex wine. Mary has always been a lover of Champagne, but not so much in my case. I must say, however, that a wine like this could make me a believer.
The amuse bouche was this
interesting shrimp with chilled cucumber puree and herbs.
Other people started to
arrive. The young couple at the next
table brought their dog, which is actually quite common in France, even in
fine, white linen tablecloth establishments like La Table Kobus. He (or she, the dog, not the couple) was quiet all through the
evening. Sometimes the servers will put
a water bowl on the floor next to the table.
I was adventurous with
my entrée. By the way, in France the entrée
is what we call an appetizer in America.
What we call the main course entree in America is what the French call
the plat. Anyway, I had an entrée of saddle of rabbit
with lardons and a puree of sweet peas with red quinoa. I found it delicious but I must say, the old
expression of rabbit tasting like chicken is pretty much true.
Mary’s plat was dos de cabillaud, which is cod and very popular here, with white
asparagus and a Champagne sauce.
I had a sensational dish
of wild dorade, a type of bream, with carrots, fennel, and mussels cooked in a
citrus sauce. It was very inventive and
interesting.
By now the place was
filling up, about 9:00 or so, but you can see they're just getting started with the carte, the menu, and an aperitif. It was quite an interesting people-watching experience.
We finished with framboises avec chantilly mascarpone,
raspberries with whipped mascarpone and pistachios …
… and a cheese course.
It was another memorable
evening and wine and food experience with my wonderful wife. I love her more every day.
That’s our post for
today. Thanks so much for reading us at Cépage et Cuisine
and for your kind comments. Keep
checking back for more posts. Champagne
is very interesting in so many ways! In
the meantime,
Cheers!
Mary♥Brian
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