Drappier

Earlier this week we visited Drappier, a local producer to us. It’s probably one of the biggest names from our region, as it was the preferred champagne of president Charles de Gaulle. Their production is situated in the small village of Urville.

I had seen that they were having an afternoon of music, performed by a local cellist, and that they would serve pastries from a well known patisserie in Troyes. There would also be a visit to the cellars, and the opportunity to taste some of their champagnes. Delightful, I thought, so I booked us a couple of places.

We were welcomed into a large stone barn area, filled with wooden tables and chairs. In the centre they had set out the patisserie, and prepared the glasses to serve us the champagne.

We relaxed for an hour, listening to the delights of the cellist, sipping champagne, and eating cake. I had imagined that, as they were serving cake, we would have a sweeter champagne, but the cake was actually not too sweet, and the champagne matched it perfectly.

We were then split into two groups, French speaking and English speaking, for the cellar visit. We have been before, but it was still extremely informative, and we always learn something new. Samuel was our guide, and he was quite excellent.

After the visit we then got to try more champagne, a total of 9 cuvées. I was driving, so limited my tasting, but Brian knows what I like, so got me to try the ones he was interested in buying.

It was a fabulous event.