Champagne Part IV: The Aube Adventure
120km south of Reims lies the Aube - where Saint Bernard brought Pinot Noir from Burgundy, where a prison that held Carlos the Jackal just closed in 2023, where cult producers show you their cows before their wine, and where Louis XIV's stonemasons discovered the only still rosé in Champagne.
Chapter 4 of Champagne Odyssey · France
The stops
- Adventure · Price: low Clairvaux Abbey: Prison to Pilgrimage The monk who invented champagne. The prison that held Carlos the Jackal. It only closed in 2023. Saint Bernard founded this abbey in 1115 and brought Pinot Noir from Burgundy to Champagne. At its peak, 700 monks lived here. Napoleon converted it to prison - 3,000 inmates in cells called 'chicken coops' (1.5 x 2 meters). Two 1971 revolt prisoners were GUILLOTINED. Victor Hugo wrote 'Claude Gueux' inspired by a real prisoner here. Now open to public - this is the spiritual origin of Champagne.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Drappier: The 12th Century Cellars & Rarest Grape Stand in cellars built by Saint Bernard's monks in 1152. Taste Arbane - the rarest grape in Champagne with less than 12 hectares worldwide. Michel Drappier saved it from extinction 25 years ago. Now the family controls 75% of all Arbane on Earth. Find the Ovum - a 3,342-liter egg-shaped vessel for special cuvées. This is where Champagne's history meets its future.
- Tour · Free Bar-sur-Aube: The Forgotten Capital Before Reims, there was Bar-sur-Aube - the medieval capital of Champagne's fairs. The 11th century Saint-Pierre church, the Renaissance cellars, the half-timbered houses. This town was where Italian merchants met Flemish weavers, where champagne money first started flowing. Now it's a quiet base for exploring the Aube's vineyards.
- Cultural · Price: low Essoyes: Where Renoir Found the Light Pierre-Auguste Renoir spent 25 summers here painting the light that changed art history. His wife Aline was from Essoyes. Their house and studio are preserved exactly as he left them. Walk the village that appears in his paintings. Find his grave in the tiny cemetery. This is where Impressionism came to rest.
- Tour · Free Les Riceys: The Triple-AOC Village The ONLY commune in France with 3 AOCs: Champagne, Coteaux Champenois, and Rosé des Riceys. Three villages (Riceys-Haut, Ricey-Haute-Rive, Ricey-Bas), 862 inhabitants, three medieval churches. Krug sources grapes here for Krug Rosé. The cadoles (dry stone shelters) dot the vineyards. This is the Burgundy of Champagne.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Rosé des Riceys: Louis XIV's Secret The ONLY still rosé in Champagne. 50,000 bottles per year from the entire appellation. Louis XIV's stonemasons building Versailles brought this wine to the king's attention. The 'Goût des Riceys' - winemakers voluntarily stop fermentation at the exact moment of perfect taste, sacrificing volume for quality. Only 15-20 producers make it. Not every year.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Vouette et Sorbée: The Bad Boys of Champagne Bertrand Gautherot calls his cows 'the marketing department.' Zero dosage, zero compromise, zero availability. Vouette et Sorbée makes champagne the way it was made before chemicals existed. The wines are allocated to the world's best restaurants. Getting a visit is nearly impossible. If you manage it, you'll understand why sommeliers whisper this name.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Marie-Courtin: The Pendulum Lady Dominique Moreau uses pendulums to evaluate grape evolution. 3.2 hectares of pure poetry. Biodynamic before it was fashionable. The wines are named after her daughters and mother. This is champagne as personal expression - each bottle carries family history and radical philosophy.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Fleury: The First Biodynamic Champagne In 1989, Fleury became the first certified biodynamic champagne producer in history. Everyone said it couldn't be done in Champagne's climate. They proved it could. Now into their fifth generation, the family has trained dozens of converts. This is where the biodynamic champagne movement started.
- Tour · Free Troyes: The Champagne Cork City 3,000 half-timbered medieval houses. The city map is literally shaped like a champagne cork. Ruelle des Chats (Cat's Alley) where houses lean toward each other and almost touch. The medieval passages, the Renaissance churches, the craft workshops. Champagne money built this civilization.
- Tasting · Price: moderate Aux Crieurs de Vin: The Troyes Wine Temple Rosé des Riceys by the glass - rare anywhere in the world. Grower champagnes from the Aube. Andouillette AAAAA gratinée au Chaource (the local sausage with local cheese). This is where your Aube adventure ends: drinking the wines you discovered, eating the food that defines the region.
- Adventure · Price: high SIDEQUEST: The Roses de Jeanne Pilgrimage Cédric Bouchard's 0.032 hectare parcel - 320 square meters, the size of a tennis court. Single-vineyard, single-vintage, often single-barrel. Among the most sought-after champagnes on Earth. Visits are extremely rare. If you can't visit, hunt the wine in Paris instead.
- Cultural · Price: low SIDEQUEST: The De Gaulle Pilgrimage Charles de Gaulle - France's greatest 20th century leader - retired here. La Boisserie, his home, is preserved as a museum. His grave is in the village churchyard with a simple cross. Colombey-les-Deux-Églises is where the man who said 'Non' to the EU, 'Non' to NATO, and 'Vive le Québec libre' found peace.
- Adventure · Price: moderate SIDEQUEST: The Arbane Grape Quest Less than 12 hectares of Arbane exist on Earth. Hunt this nearly-extinct grape across multiple producers: Drappier (controls 75%), Moutard (kept the tradition alive from 1952), Alexandre Bonnet (7 Cépages project). Compare different expressions of the world's rarest champagne grape.
The story
This is where enthusiasts graduate to obsessives.
Plan the trip
Insider tip Book growers 3+ weeks ahead - these aren't tourist operations. Bring French basics. And if you find Roses de Jeanne in a Paris wine shop, BUY IT - it's rarer than most Burgundy Grand Crus.