A trip to Troyes

I have just made a trip to Troyes with my wife to visit the French side of the family. Troyes is the former capital of the Champagne region. It is located about 150 kms south east of Paris and about 110 kms south of Reims. The old city was designed in the shape of a champagne cork and features many 16th century half timbered houses. It was once part of Burgundy and King Henry V of England married Catherine, the daughter of the French King, at Troyes in 1420 to become heir to the French throne.

Troyes, as "capital" of the Aube department, is well placed in the champagne region. To the north there are the famous vineyards of the Montagne de Reims where the top cru are situated. To the south east there are the lesser known vineyards, centred upon Bar-sur-Seine and Bar-sur Aube, which produce a different more forward or fruity style of Champagne than the producers in the North. Some of the wine from this department is shipped North to be blended into the champagne of the Marne based negociants.

Troyes , is also very close to Burgundy and not that far from Alsace so it is well supplied with wine from both of these regions. My gastronomic trip reflected the wines of all three of these regions and others.

My first port of call after meeting the relations was of course a supermarket. Whilst waiting a long time for my wife to do the shopping, I browsed the wine shelves of Leclerc. The first wine to catch my eye was Cave de Roquebrun 2007 Col de L'Estrade St Chinian. I have visited their caves in the Languedoc Region: their Baron D'Aupenac and Seigneur D'Aupenac reds are some of the best wines I have ever tasted, so I could not go wrong buying a couple of bottles of their lesser wine at EUR 5.67 a bottle.

So to lunch at my sister-in-law. No French lunch would be complete without an aperitif and a bottle of Alsace Gewurtztraminer was produced along with a bottle of Cassis or Blackcurrant Liqueur. I tasted the wine before the offer of the Cassis and thought that it tasted very good, it was semi-sweet with hints of honey. I declined the Cassis. I do not know why the French love to flavour perfectly good wine with Cassis. However, they live for dessert and so perhaps that is why. To me it is like mixing coke with a grand cru Cognac - sacrilege at best. The wine went down well with some Asparagus.

Now for the second course Lapin en Cocotte; we ate the magnificent rabbit stew with the 2007 Col de L'Estrade St Chinian. The wine had pronounced aromas of red fruits and spices and held up well with the with the strong gamey taste of the rabbit and the earthy tastes of the pleurotes (oyster) mushrooms which accompanied it. My brother-in-law opened a bottle of Chassagne Montrachet rouge to taste in comparison: this wine was more elegant, but quality of the St Chinian almost matched that of its much higher priced cousin.

Even though we had opened three bottles of wine and gorged ourselves on four courses, five of us had only consumed three quarters of a bottle of wine in total, so an hour later it was safe to drive to Montgueux for a walk.

Montgueux is situated 10 kms or so due west of Troyes. It is a sleepy village mounted on a hill with deep seams of chalk. At the top of the hill and on the south to south easterly facing slopes are around two hundred hectares of mainly chardonnay grapes. Some of the
grapes are sold to the champagne houses situated further north in Epernay and Reims. The little known champagnes of Montgueux should be tried in comparison to the wines from the north of the region. Many of the locals from Troyes do not like them as they think they taste green, whatever that means; I find them a little sharp and unripe if that is what you mean by green. It all adds to the local character of the wines. The most renowned Champagne from this region is Jacques Lassaigne.

One wine blogger, I have read, has described these wines as "Chablis with bubbles". I cannot think why, perhaps it is because Chablis is only 70 kms to the south of Troyes but the geology in Chablis is completely different. The Cremant de Bourgogne sparkling wine produced in the Chablis area is made by the traditional method, but it has its own unique regional flavour which is nothing like Champagne. I would advise the blogger making a trip to the regions of either Champagne or Bourgogne to keep remarks like that to himself!

After a stroll through the leafy countryside and vineyards of Montgueux we ventured to a different set of in-laws for another four course meal. This time we celebrated with champagne as an aperitif. Our wine was Albans D'Aulbe from Buxeuil in the Aube department. This Champagne was typical of the wines from the area.

The soils of the Aube region are derived from the Kimmeridgian chalk and limestone based marls and are geologically very different to the cretaceous chalks of the Marne; the climate too is more similar to the Chablis Area. The champagnes produced are, therefore, different in style. There was debate as to whether the wines of the Aube should be classified as Champagne at all. The producers and negociants of the Marne still regard Aube champagne as second class. The co-operatives and negociants of the North are happy, however, to include Aube based wines in their blend. Even though the soil in the Aube is very similar to the Chablis area , the wine still tastes like Champagne and is easily distinguishable from Cremant de Bourgogne. Try some Albans D'Aulbe or Cheurlin Dangin from Celles sur Ource. The Pinot Noir grape, which dominates the plantings in the Aube, contributes to the fruitiness of the wines.

But, back to the food, after the aperitif I stopped taking notes. My wife spotted a Premier Cru Chablis, blind, which we used to wash down a seafood brochette. She ought to be able to spot a Chablis as her father was born in the region.

For main course we ate Filet Mignon en Croute. In France Filet Mignon is pork, not beef, so do not get confused in a restaurant. Our Filet Mignon was cooked in pastry and was delicious when accompanied by a bottle of Arbois 1999 red wine made from the Trousseau grape, this wine was still very fruity and going strong after eleven years in the bottle. I recommend a bottle if you can find it. The wine also went well with a selection of French cheese following the main course.

After eight courses of food during the day, we planned a trip to Chablis for the following morning.

Chablis my favourite white wine; maybe it is because of the slightly mineral taste derived from the Kimmeridgian and Portlandian based soils. I prefer the sharp edge that it gives to the wine.

After a trip through the vineyards, we joined some cousins for lunch at Le Syracuse. We each sampled a glass of house Chablis for an aperitif with its typical mineral falvour and then selected a bottle of Irancy red for the main course. I had never tasted Jean Marc Brocard's Irancy before, as he is more famous for his excellent Chablis. His 2008 Domaine Sainte Claire was a delight; light in colour with a distinct flavour of cherries and with a light mineral taste. I did not notice any bitter tannins and the fresh acidity went well with both a bavette steak, which I ate, and the sandre or zander which my wife ate.

The town of Chablis is remarkable only for the wine but it has a very good Sunday market, so it is well worth visiting. The area has many interesting wines including Chablis, Irancy, Epineuil and St Bris, which is a Burgundian white made from the Sauvignon Blanc or Sauvignon Gris grape varieties. All these wines reflect the terroir of Auxerre area.

After all that eating and drinking it was time to head off back to Troyes for a simple Pizza and a glass of water for supper.