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Hautvillers

Small villages in France are meant to be explored on foot. Hautvillers, in the north east part of France in the Champagne region, is one of those villages.

What makes this one special?

Dom Perignon.

Have you heard of him? Maybe you equate his name with amazing bubbly. Who was he?

Born in about 1638 in the Champagne region of France, he was one of eight children. His family was like many others. They owned a few vineyards where he spent some time.

At a young age, he studied at an abbey, a Jesuit college, and became a monk. In fact, he ended up leading a monastery as a French Benedictine monk.

While at the Abbey of Hautvillers, he served as cellarer for its vineyard. That’s where he is credited with making improvements to the Champagne process or methode Champenoise. Before him, Champagne bottles would explode as the yeasts came back to life in the warm spring temperatures. He figured out to avoid these explosions.

Some of his other discoveries and advancements include combining different terroirs, pressing immediately after picking, holding corks down with string, digging cellars in the limestone to keep the Champagne at constant temperatures, and creating bubbles through a secondary fermentation. We can thank him for the prestigious Champagne we drink today.

In 1715, Dom Perignon was buried in the nave of the Abbey of Hautvillers. Typically, this section was reserved only for Abbots. That’s how well thought of he is in the village. His marble stone says he led his life “Cum Summa laude”, a mark of the highest praise.

Considered the cradle of Champagne, Hautvillers is a wine-producing village with its own unique look.

Houses used to display forged iron signs hanging from their entryways. These let everyone know what each shop was famous for. Today, many signs showcase activities related to Champagne. Others are for atmosphere.

We noticed the Hautvillers town prayer above one doorway. This is the morning prayer in the Champagne fashion.

Donnez-moi la sante pour longtemps, du boulot pas trop souvent, de l’amour de temps en temps, mais du champagne tout le temps.

Give me health for a long time, work not too often, love from time to time, but Champagne all the time.

I like this guy!

Champagne Houses

Champagne houses vary. We visited a smaller house in a small village west of Reims.

Walking up the hill, we passed rows of vines. Some belonged to F. Cossy and some did not. Seemingly, they all ran together on the hill side. In reality, they did not.

That’s what makes this area so special. Even though vines run up and down the hills, through the small villages, and next to the winding roads it’s different than in many places. You won’t find acres of vines for as far as you can see which are all owned by one winery.

Here, an entire row may be owned by different people. One person may have vines which go a few feet or a few hundred feet. It doesn’t mean the whole hectare belongs to one person.

We set off to the small village of Jouy-les-Reims in search of a Champagne house a sommelier friend suggested. Traveling on narrow roads through small villages, we thought we may have made a wrong turn and were actually driving on a private lane. We’ve driven on a lot of roads similar to these. This time, we were following the GPS and wondered if we had entered the wrong address.

Houses and buildings perched so close to the road we could reach out and touch them. Vines with small bunches of remaining grapes begged to be photographed. There would have been no room to meet another vehicle. Maybe we were on the wrong road.

Turning a tight corner, we arrived at the address. Since it was a house and not what we were expecting, I called the winery owner. We were in the right place and she was on her way to meet us.

Some of her vines were ones we had passed. This time, we could photograph them. And, taste the remaining grapes. So sweet. She has other vines in a neighboring village.

Sophie Cossy had taken over the winemaking part of their family business when her father unexpectedly passed away. She was only 25 at the time. Young for a winemaker of a Champagne house. Their family had been farming these vineyards since 1764. They had been bottling under their own label since the 1950s.

The tour of her operation and the tastings were outstanding. Of all the Champagnes we tasted…these were among the best.

If you are in the Champagne area or are planning a trip, do not miss this house.

If You Go: Located in the 1er Cru village Jouy-les-Reims. You will be on the western outskirts of Reims. Check their website for visiting information, champagne-cossy.com.