I should have planned to do nothing the first day I arrived in France but instead I schedule a visit in Champagne. So totally exhausted after the 13-hour night flight from Singapore we found ourselves driving to Champagne.

The weather could not be better, a gentle easterly breeze, not a cloud in the sky. I thought after the heat of Singapore I’d be reaching for the thermals on arrival here. But instead Epernay was almost too hot.

My appointment was with Benoit & Mélanie Tarlant of Champagne Tarlant; this meant a brief drive west from Epernay to Oeuilly. Melanie had sent me an email prior to the rugby world cup quarter final between New Zealand and France as a challenge. The result of that game is something we don’t talk about in New Zealand
Agrandir le plan

As Benoit has a blog I thought it appropriate to arrange a visit. Champagne Tarlant produces a really interesting range of wines from their 48 different sites in the Marne. Included in this is a small parcel of Chardonnay that grows ungrafted on it own roots. This is a very rare thing, as usually the vineyard root pest phylloxera will kill any vine not planted on resistant rootstock. The only other wine I know of made exclusively from vines growing on their own roots in Champagne is Bollinger’s VVF which will set you back upwards of 500 euros. Yet you can experience “ungrafted” Champagne from Tarlant for about 55 euros.

It’s produced as a vintage wine and I was lucky enough to try the 2000. Realistically this wine could be twice the price and still be good value. If it were from one of the big champagne houses it would cost a lot more than that. As a brief description, I’d say it’s like Chablis from a good year with lots of fruit and of course bubbles. It is still very much champagne though!

While I can understand the attraction of visiting the large Champagne houses, I feel it is strange for visitors from overseas to travel so far only to taste wines that they can buy at home. There are lots of small producers in Champagne you can visit that you may not know or be able to get at home. If you visit the area I recommend going to some of the smaller family producers and trying wines you may not normally encounter

Pinot Noir early growth at Tarlant.

From the same vineyard. Note the high vine density. Row spacing at 1.0 meters. Vine spacing also at 1.1 meters.

Tractor traffic in Epernay. They drive these on the steep vineyards