Moët and Chandon Wine Tasting

The Moët and Chandon Wine Tasting tour turned out to be more interesting than I expected. I think it was all because of our tour guide who was very knowledgeable and he spoke very clearly. I don’t know if it is all memorized but he was able to deliver everything quite well. There weren’t too many questions either which is probably fine. I did ask if they are still making tunnels, he initially didn’t understand what a tunnel is but after a little explanation, I was told that they have already stopped making tunnels. So for now, the extent of the tunnel network here at Moët and Chandon is 28 kilometers. I would imagine that other champagne houses would also have similar extensive underground networks, since it is hardly a good idea to keep all these above ground where it would be subject to variable temperatures making the champagne inconsistent.

When we were done with the cellar tour, we were brought back to the surface. We were led to a room which has a table and with champagne glasses. This is where the wine tasting comes in. Our guide gave way to a sommelier who will be guiding us in our wine tasting. We were each given a glass of champagne, specifically their Moët Imperial, which is named after Napoleon. The sommelier basically repeated a lot of stuff which was already told us during the cellar tour. I guess this time it would be more relatable because we have the actual champagne right in front of us. I noticed that one of our tour group members didn’t drink his share of champagne, I wanted to ask for it if only not to waste it.

One question was raised by the group members, if making champagne is all about making it consistent over the years, where is the creativity to be found here? The sommelier wasn’t able to answer the question or perhaps he didn’t understand the question, but I suppose the creativity comes in when you need to figure out how to maintain the taste with known stock of this or that batch of new or old champagne. They would also need to figure out how to make the most of what they have when taking into account the taste of the current year’s harvest. I don’t know if people actually compare the tastes year by year but it seems Moët and Chandon takes this consistency very seriously. After all, if you like a particular product of theirs then it would be imperative to maintain the same taste year after year to keep you as a customer. It seems champagne making it more challenging than I thought.

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