Corporate Wine Tours to Champagne
Reims was the destination for a corporate party of 20 who set out with me as their Smooth Red representative in May, bound for a two day champagne extravaganza. I was surprised to learn that one person in the group didn’t like champagne and made a note to speak to him. The easy Eurostar journey ensured that we arrived in Reims in time for lunch before the coach took us to a beautiful hotel just 10 minutes outside the city. With everyone eager for the wine tasting experience to begin, we settled back on the coach for our first visit to Veuve Clicquot, where we got a real sense of the history buried in the Gallo Roman chalk caves before tasting two of the wines upstairs in the stylish modern reception rooms.
The tastings left us all very mellow as we relaxed into the journey through the lush Champagne countryside to our dinner destination at Moët & Chandon. The vast network of cellars had everyone in awe but nothing prepared them for the first sight of the spectacular Napoléon Cave that was to be our dining room. Dinner was a gastronomic experience accompanied by a Rosé Impérial, a Grand Vintage 2003 Rosé, a Moët Impérial and a Nectar Impérial.
On the return coach journey, I smiled as I listened to people comparing the merits of Veuve versus Moët and remembering the wine waiter telling me that everyone had drunk champagne, I realised that we clearly had a convert in our midst!
Sarah Corvi – May 2010