June 12, 2023
Epernay to Ay and Bollinger
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Today we are spending the morning in Epernay before we move to Ay and do a tour of Bollinger. For most of our time in Epernay the shops have been closed so we thought it would be a good to at least have a look around when things are open.
We spent the morning strolling the streets and then headed back to our Epernay B&B to pack the car and head to Ay. Kathy and I road the 3 miles to Ay and checked into another beautiful old house. This one is much better than the one we had in Epernay and better than the one we had booked for Reims.
We started the tour of Bollinger with the standard introduction and history of the Bollinger. They were very proud of there associated with James Bond movies and had special edition releases of Champagne on display in every room.
Our tour continued to the cooperage where they explained how they make the wine in both oak barrels and stainless steel vats and then blend the still wines before bottling for the next fermentation stage to make Champagne.
When then entered the cellar to start our walk of some of the 6km of underground tunnels. Some of the still wine is bottled and aged to be used in blending of the wines in later years. The wine can be aged up to 15 years before it is blended to make Champagne.
We then visited the racks of bottles undergoing the riddling process. This process rotates the bottle to loosen the sediment so it falls to the neck of the bottle and then can be removed in the disgorgement process where they remove the cork and let some of the champagne escape before re-corking the bottle.
After the cellar tour we went back up to the tasting room to sample 5 different Champagnes. We started with their Grand Reserver blanc to blanc and Rose. We then tried the vintage blanc to blanc and Rose finishing with the 2008 RD. It was a great way to get to compare the different champagnes.
After the tour we went back to our B&B and took advantage of having a kitchen to cook salmon accompanied by a great salad.
Today's ride: 3 miles (5 km)
Total: 607 miles (977 km)
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