In the heart of Champagne district is a small town called Reims. Reims is ultra cool because they have a bus stop named in my honor.
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| Coolest bus stop...EVER! |
I visited the Pommery Champagne cellars on the outskirts of Reims. The cellars are down 116 steps that bring you 30 meters below ground. I learned the Champagne process and saw how many bottles are turned manually to enhance the yeast process that creates those dangerous little bubbles.
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| Gates to the Pommery Estate. |
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| I love when industry disguises itself as a castle. |
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| Spooky scary stairs...you go first! |
The cellar is an underground maze with small alcoves named for the cities that comprise the Pommery international market.
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| Manchester cave in the Pommery cellar. |
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Champagne is stored so the sediments fall into the stem of the bottle.
The bottle stem is then frozen so the solidified sediment plug can be removed. Genius! |
Much of the cellar is filled with art sculptures and audio/visual art expression. For example, in one cave there was a repeated video playing of a man and a women doing up and down in an elevator. No sound, other than the creaking elevator. Another was a video of kids playing in the street. It's interesting what is considered art - I wonder how much Mme. Pommery paid for her collection?
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| "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas...or one in my champagne cellar will do" |
The cellar inventory contains over 20 million bottles, including some historical vintages dated back to the late 1800's.
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| Check that out...1874! |
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| Champagne racks and candles... it was oddly romantic. |
After the chilly tour, we were treated to a glass of Champagne, but only one glass. I guess I am officially a lush. Pommery has a tough act to follow after Dr. Pierre.
