The third day we went to a completely different company named Nicolas Feuillate. It’s the third biggest champagne selling company in the world and first selling one in France. This one started only much later than most of the other houses with making and selling champagnes. Nicolas Feuillatte was founded in 1976 by entrepreneur Nicolas Feuillatte himself. He was born in 1926 and he died in 2016. Only in 1980 he began to sell champagne under his own name.
Before Nicolas Feuillate thought of starting a champagne-house he made fortune by selling Brazilian coffee beans in the US. In 1986 Nicolas Feuillatte became the biggest union of co-operatives in the region by combining together 5000 wine-growers from 83 cooperatives. Nowadays there are 4500 growers member.
Later the name became ’Centre Vinicole Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte’. Together the growers have more than 2000 ha of vineyard around the champagne area. This company is situated in the hart of the Cote de Blanc region.
It’s one of the most amazing champagne houses I have ever seen. The main-office is shaped like half a bottle. Inside it’s like a small museum. Everything is designed with care. The process of making champagne is done for a greater deal by machinery. I have seen a lot of champagne house but this one is extraordinary. And the quality of their wines is to. https://www.nicolas-feuillatte.com/en
On the fourth day we went to a private house again in Epernay called Boizel.
It is a very nice building to see. They make some nice champagne but over al I think that I have tasted better quality. It’s also the first time we got a champagne where there was no sparkling taste in the glass. That was due to fact that the glass wasn’t clean. If a glass isn’t clean it kills the foam in the champagne. www.boizel.com/en
In between we tasted some very nice pastry in several shops around Epernay and Reims:
‘La Bonbonnière’: 15 Rue de l’Arbalète, 51100 Reims.
‘Waïda et fils’: 5 Place Drouet d’Erlon, 51100 Reims.
‘Maison Dallet’: https://www.chocolat-vincentdallet.fr
There is one man I want to mention in particular in my story because he played a very imported roll in the area. The name is Henri Macquart. He lived between 1914 and 2005. In his hart he was a strong union man. He united the wine- growers in the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne). He was much ahead of its time. He understood that the growers needed to be united to insure sales of their grapes.
In the area are several small and good restaurants. One I have enjoyed very much is ‘La Cave à Champagne’ in Epernay. It has good and affordable menus and separate dishes you can take and a nice list of wines from the area and other vineyards in France.
www.la-cave-a-champagne.com
Overall the region of Champagne-Ardenne (now since 2016 it became the region Grand-Est) is very beautiful and there’s a lot to see, to do and to taste.