Chateau Bligny....a Champagne Shangri-la

The two lane country road wound through wooded forests and verdant fields......then just beyond a hilltop, down into a gully and around a corner our destination emerged, a grand castle on a hill set amongst a bevy of brilliant emerald vineyards sloping down onto the manicured grounds of Chateau Bligny. The Devil Dog is a fan of opulence and splendor and a lover of fine champagne. At Chateau Bligny we have found all of this and more. There are only two champagne houses which are allowed to use the term Chateau and Chateau Bligny is one of them. A beautifully restored 15th century castle on hundreds of rolling acres, it also makes a range of 6 different champagnes, all from grapes grown on the premises.

We are here for a movable feast, a multi-course meal with each course served in a different part of the castle,with a different champagne to accompany each course. Chateau Bligny resembles nothing less than a fairy tale castle, set on vast rolling lawns, and as a private home that is available for events and tours, its is impeccably restored. We begin in the upstairs reception room (past the suit of 14th century armor) with several bottles of 100% Chardonnay Champagne and a series of appetizers, before touring the bedroom suites overlooking the manicured lawns and the surrounding hillsides filled with vineyards.

We then move downstairs into the family room for the first main courses of salad and smoked salmon and two different champagnes, a 70% pinot noir/30% chardonnay blend, and a 100% pinot noir. It is the blending of the different champagne grapes that distinguishes each variety, as well as the sugar levels, with blanc de blanc being the driest. We take in the magnificent stained glass window with depictions of the 15th century owners of the castle before moving into the formal dining room for the next two courses. The meal is amazing, especially served with a 50% pinot/50% chardonnay blend champagne, a special 100% pinot non carbonated wine called Bouzy Rouge, and then, with desert, an amazing Bligny Rose champagne.

After the meal we walk the grounds, surrounded by epic splendor, before going into the ballroom downstairs, which doubles asa disco and reception area for weddings for a final round of champagne and a performance by an antique calliopy. The hours have passed all too swiftly, the sky is a raging blue, the universe is in perfect order as we stroll the front lawn gazing back at the brilliant setting, Chateau Bligny standing out in the afternoon sun like an apparition. Then we climb into the car and depart, wistful and amazed, a Devil Dog full of fine wine, great food, and memories of a castle on a hill I will not soon forget.....

One note...finding Chateau Bligny champagne outside of France would be a herculean effort, I am sure,....but well worth the struggle. This is what we live for...impecable settings, sumptuous meals,...a boutique but steller winery producing astonishing product which is hard to find, beautiful to indulge...and memorable for its rarity,clarity, and finesse.

Francois deLay du Pompideau

Our compatriots on the road of life are frequently engaging characters with dark pasts and darker secrets. Only by trundling across the countryside in close proximity do we discover the delightful layers of the exotic personality. During my recent trip to France I acquired a comrade in arms, a riding partner, a wingman extraordinaire who made the journey more than just a memorable experience, but a true adventure across the centuries of time and the landscape of Champagne and Burgundy. He seemed a simple, happy fellow with a quick wit and ready smile. But there was so much more to him.Mysterious and brimming with enthusisasm, Francois de Lay du Pompideau comes from the ancient land of Bohemia, by way of New Paltz , New York, where his father was a Duke and his mother was a village girl who had a way with thoroughbreds. Aristocratic by nature, with a keen sense of human character, his unbridled approach to the joy of discovery in travel was a constant propellent of the ebullience we created on a regular basis. Whether it was wandering the streets of Troyes to in search of fine wine in the afternoon for late night revelry, or strolling the village of Les Ricey at dawn to take in the views of a simple country town, to swilling endless bottles of champagne together at Chateau Bligny and Champagne Drappier, to infectuously stoking the conversation at dinner over a bottle of Grand Cru in Beaune, or coming into his room and finding him laying in bed at Hotel le Cep looking out the open window with a burning cigarette and a glass of brandy, Francois de Lay du Pompideau was a lantern unto the darkness, and a pathfinder through the wilderness.
There are those who claim he changes his name from time to time, that his background is less aristocratic than racontuer. No matter....whether he be under the nom du guerre Kent St. John, or on his blog Be Our Guest (which can be found at gonomad.com), or whether he chooses to wander in anonymity through the streets of his next unknown, unsuspecting town, he will always be Francois de Lay du Pompideau to me, a man of character and mirth, a keen eye and a ready wit, a sharp pallette (that man knows his lapin), and a grand companion of the road, .... a true aristocrat of life in a land that knows no boundries. Good men like this are hard to find.....

The Magic of Troyes

In a world of overhyped saturated tourist "destinations" it is a pleasure to arrive in a genuine historically preserved medieval town that retains its authenticity without being relegated to "Disneyland" status. Troyes (pronounced Twah) is such a place, a beautifully preserved town with numerous half timbered structrures dating from the 14th and 15th century, remarkably intact, restored and imbued with distinct character that is genuine and delightfully memorable. It reminded me of Stratford on Avon without the hordes of tourists.

Troyes was a crossroads town, set in the middle of the numerous grape growing villages that make up the Champagne region, but it gained its reputation as a textile center in the 14th century and acquired great wealth as a trading town. The old town is shaped like a champagne cork, and in spite of fires through the centuries has more intact half timbered medieval buildings than I have ever seen. 

We are staying in the Maison de Rhodes, a lovely inn with only 11 rooms that was once a home for the Knights Templer in the 15th century and has been restored to impeccable splendor. You feel as if you are living in an ancient home from 500 years ago (with the exception of the indoor plumbing and cable TV). The Devil Dog and his nimble partner in crime, Francois deLay du Pompideau, have been given adjoining third floor attic suites that come to resemble the boys dormitory at a splendid castle. We look out our window into the courtyard below. It is a slice of heaven. The feel of the place is remarkable.

The next day we take a full tour of the town, and are enthralled with the extent of its restoration. The Church of the Madeline in particular stands out for its amazing pulpit and the ornate stone carvings. 

The ancient half timbered houses become so ubiquitous that after several hours we almost... almost.... take them for granted. But it is amazing to be in a place that has not been restored to become a tourist attraction, but attracts tourists because it has been so beautifully preserved and continues the feel of a genuine town that has thrived for more than 600 years.

Chateau Les Crayeres...a 5 star adventure

There are fine hotels and then there are the sublime, the pinnacle, the virtually unreproachable. Just outside of Reims (pronounced Rance), on 7 acres that used to belong to the Pommery champagne brand, is the impeccable Chateau Les Crayeres, a bastion of elegance if ever there was one. The Devil Dog is a man with few qualms about rolling in decadence, and for that purpose Chateau Les Crayeres fits the bill. Recently voted one of the finest hotels in the world, it more than lives up to its reputation not only as a hotel and an amazingly cool property, but as a restaurant as well.

The Castle, as the main building is known, was built at the turn of the 20th century as a home for the owners of Pommery Champagne. Occupied by the Germans during and then by the Americans after WWII, it was sold to the Gardinier family and in 1983 Chateau Les Crayeres was opened to the public. It has enthralled ever since. We arrive in the late morning for a sumptuous multi course meal. We begin in the solarium with an appertif of Champagne Ruffin, a fabulous rose that opens our eyes to the extent to which there are incredible champagnes that we have never heard of. This excites the Devil Dog, who has always viewed wine (and champagne) drinking as sport, a search for the new, the fabulous, the unknown star, the undiscovered beauty of the lesser known champagne houses whose greatness is apparent in the glass on the voyage of discovery. The Devil Dog feels like Lewis and Clark in the champagne region, seeking out the unknown and being amazed at the result. Champagne Ruffin rose is one for the ages, if you can find it.

Lunch follows in the grand dining room, a mirror image of the solarium. Foie Gras de Canard is incredible, as is the Agneau de Lait (lamb), paired with a series of great wines, including a Chateau Olivier 2001 white. Desert is extravagant and the hours pass in sheer delight. We then tour the Chateau, taking in remarkable guest rooms that are as meticulously decorated as they are ridiculously beautiful. It is like staying at a castle.....yes that is exactly what its like. We leave reluctantly, having blissfully experienced an afternoon in sheer paradise.

Drappier...the Champagne of Presidents...French Presidents

We search for the great Champagne house whose product is not yet known to the everyday Rap artist, not Crystal, or Dom, or even Grande Dame....for as fine as they are, they are also, in their own superattenuated public conciousness way, a bit common, run of the mill...I mean, anyone can order a bottle of Dom or Crystal....but we are in search of something more, the great Champagne whose greatness is known to the collector, the connessuer, the sommelier of a Michellen 3 star,...the discerning , the discriminating....the search for that which is both great and distinctive and out of the ordinary.
So we arrive in the lovely little village of Urville, tucked away in the rolling hills, and the cellers of Champagne Drappier, the favorite champagne of French Presidents Charles de Gaulle and Jacque Chirac. In fact De Gaulle kept a country residence very near here. Champagne Drappier is a distinguished, exceptional champagne house making a wide variety of specialty champagnes, incuding a 100% chardonnay with no dosage (added sugar), vintage releases when merited, and a commemorative Charles de Gaulle release. This is the epitomy of what we are in search of...a grand champagne house with distinctive wines in a class by themselves, recognized and highly praised in France, and largely unknown in America.
We tour their cellers and meet the owner of the estate. We actually watch the disgorgement process (where the years of yeast and sediment is removed from the bottle after months of careful sifting and turning, until the bottles are upside down, then dipped in liquid nitrogen, uncorked - where the frozen neck disgorges the sediment in a release of gas - dosage is added - a level of sugar so it can mature to the intended taste - and the final cork and wire wrapping is added before being crated to be stored and shipped). It is an amazing and now largely automated process. Impressive indeed...and quite fascinating. The Devil Dog never truly knew what went into a bottle of champagne, how meticulous and involved it was, how varied the cuvee according to the blend of Pinot and Chardonnay grape, how a 100% Pinot and a 100% chardonay champagne differed, and what made the difference between a great blend and a great winemaker. We retire to the tasting room and proceed to indulge in each of their differnet varietals and vintage releases. As we drive off through the countryside to the little village of Les Ricey to spend the night we are buzzing with more than excitement, having had a taste of the kind of champagne that has been unmistakably worthy of French Presidents......and us.

memoir de la Paul Newman

Paul Newman died today. Now it isn't really a shock (how we could not have helped noticing from the drumbeat of the tabloids), but it is the passing of an era. There are few people left that we can truly call Movie Stars and he was one of them. A career that spanned more than 50 years, with achingly brilliant work within each decade, blistering work that stands up today - Hud, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler (with Gleason....oh my god, Gleason and Newman in their prime), Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy, and The Sting (spawning Redford, in their peak, together, the two most beautiful men alive, on screen), and Winning (from 1968, one of his few with wife Joanne Woodward and the film credited with turning him on to addictive high speed racing)...well you can see his carreer retrospective endlessly in the next 6 days...its not that.

He was like a great memory that lives from its initial instant with you to this day, effectively entering your conciousness....the first time I walked down Ave. Montagne in Paris.... the blinding snowstorm in Japan the first winter there as a child of 7 and how it blanketed the Camp Zama Golf Course and the woods with several feet of snow....waking up in the turret of Chateau de Bagnols outside Lyon....soaking in the pools of Esalin Institute suspended in the Mickey Muenig designed bath house embedded into the vertical stone cliffside hundreds of feet above the Pacific Oceon....watching the sun go down over the cote d'azur from the balcony of the Hotel Du Cap. Now past, we have that memory preserved in our mind with the ferver and intensity that inspired it. Now passed, we have the memory of Paul Newman the actor enshrined in classic films that define a cinematic epoch, and Paul Newman the man who defined humble self reliance and a greater heart for his fellow man thru his quiet activism and powerhouse philanthropic efforts, and an apparently extremely decent fellow who lived an extraordinary life and touched us all along the way...in measures both brilliant and emotionally resonant.

...this meddlesome priest

It's a time of uncertainty, economic crisis, of war, and unrest in the middle east. One figure stood at the crossroads between east and west, one had the moral authority to summon kings and advise the troubles of the day. No...not Bono, and its not our current earthly woes....its the 12th century in the far reaches of Burgundy and a monk named Bernard (the Abbot of Clairvaux) was to rise and leave his mark on the world while leaving behind the Abbey of Fontenay, a truly worthy world historical site that remains intact from the glory days of the unlikely Cisterian domination of the religious agenda of the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries.

The Abbey of Fontenay leaves you breathless when you walk into it from the parking lot. Tucked away at the end of a valley, it is an imposing sight in its archetectural perfection, and more astonishing as a private home, whose owners restored it to its former glory and live in a lovely 18th century family redoubt at the center of the property.

The Cisterians were ascetic....eschewing comforts, vowing poverty, collectively living a life of silence and meditation, building great orders across Europe by insisting on the rigid and humble interpretation of monastic life exemplified and preached by St. Benedict. The future St. Bernard could not help, as he rose in fame and influence within the order, but become involved in the earthly political disputes of his day, advising Henry II in the ramifications of his relationship with Eleanor of Aquitane at a time when the principalities of Burgandy, or Aquitane, or Normandy were more powerful than the "King" of France, who barely ruled Paris, and were frequently at odds with each other in shifting alliances. Into this millieu St Bernard became the natural concilliator and unbiased mediator of opinion, except in the biases of the Lord of course, and was frequently consulted by the powers of his day.

The Abbey he left behind grew fat and rich, pompous and redundant, fell into dissipation, was seized by the French Revolution, and ultimately sold over 100 years ago into private ownership to a family who became voluntary stewards of what they recognized as an important national heritage. To wander into the great cathedral is to step back 800 years. The dormitary, a large arched stone expanse like a horse arena, was in its day filled with monks who slept on beds of straw and little else, in summer and winter. Sparten, yes... but influential and a terrific organizer of skills and talent, agriculturally or in textiles and production. The wealth of the Abbey is clear in its elaborate construction, but its importance as a crossroad in history is revealed in the impact of its messenger, what the buildings convey to us today. The arches in the commons quadrangle is a masterpiece of stonework. The grounds transcribe a majesty and a sensibility as is seldem found at sites like these. The family that lives there still couldn't be nicer. St Bernard would be very pleased.