Visit to Renee Geoffroy

Not very often u get access and visit independent winemaker
It's pretty rare bcoz first of all......ppl will alwiz want to visit those big Makers/Houses
second of all these independent brands produce in such limited quantity not everyone in the world get to drink them, wat's more be exposed to such maker?

our wine merchant for us this appoitment with Renee Geoffroy in the City of Ay
big thanks to Henry H

the sky was so beautiful
weather was lovely....wat a wonderful day to begin with
and the air was crisp cool
perfect setting to pop any bottles
wuahahaha
and yeah the vineyards were just a couple of steps away

The champagne house was established since the 17th century
passing down from father to sons
the current generation is helmed by Jean-Baptiste Geoffroy
he was away in London during our visit, else it would be an honor to meet the men himself
:))))))))))))))))

First of all, we were lead to the pressing room
where they press all the grapes slowly to release its beautiful juice

in Champagne making, 3 types of grapes are usually used
Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay
the proportion of grapes depends on the winemaker
making champagne is science u know?!??!?!?!

all those golden juices will then be transferred directly from the pressing room down to this level
into the stainless steel containers
notice all the pipes from the top?
yes we were directly beneath the pressing room

Jean-Baptiste chose to age his champagne in Huge oak barrels
hence the wines became more ALIVE
so the aroma of his champagnes are pretty complex and yet subtle

we were then lead further deeper down the property into his cellar
it's my favourite part of any wine tour
hehehehehehe *nope, it's not the tasting*

Renee Geoffroy has a very meticulous method in his wine making
they believe in "Terroir" when this only happens in Burgundy
tell that to those big champagne makers and they'll say u are crazy

I like to believe that Geoffroy is more eccentric in this way
and he doesn't do malolactic fermentation unlike Bollinger who swear by it
he rather separate all the grapes, parcel by parcel
imagine u vinifiy the juice of the grapes by grape types and by location, which plot of land u got ur grapes from....etcetera etcetera.....*big PHEW*
well look who's the perfectionist here?
I think he has a Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Jean-Baptiste stressed that by doing so u can exploit the terroir to the max
and he'll have more options to play around with during blending...
like which plot blend with which and types of grapes...etcetera etcetera....

when Big Houses like Moet & Champagne just throw everything into one
sounds like making chicken nuggets huh?
where that piece of meat has got skin, neck, unwanted parts and chicken bum bum?
this is the price to pay for going BIG and GLOBAL
u need to produce a lot very quickly where u dun even control the quality of your grapes
because big houses buy grapes from everyone?
anyway it is insulting to compare independent vigneron like Geoffroy with Mass maker like M&C

Jean-Baptiste's lab
only HE can enter....
where he experiments on the blendings

Vignerons usually check for acidity and sugar content in the juice to create the perfect blending for the champagnes that has got a certain characteristics

thus giving their champagne a remarkable taste that's truly own by that House.

by not doing malolactic fermentation, he has got more freedom to play around with, when it comes to blending.

Jean-Baptiste's cellar is so NEAT
really really OCD!!!!

hmm wat if a Monkey visitor like me go and crash that whole row of neatly stacked bottles?
wat if I lean on one of those.....okie let's not even think about it
or even speak of it.......
else ALL VISITORS will be banned fr here!!!!!

the packing room
really very simple and fast

the sight and sound of bottles clanking to each other, labels being put on
and transferred to carton boxes for exports just make me so excited
hahahahahahahaha
I dunno why :P

lastly we were led to the tasting room
:)))))))))))))))))

it has got such fragrant nose
and freshness about it
even its entry level champagnes were already so awesome
left us speechless~~~~~

we wanted to purchase the Blanc de Rose
but everything was sold out
SOLD OUT
sigh..................

Monkey & Anne
she was so helpful and sweet!!!!
to spend an hour with us at the property

and so we try to load some stocks fr our reliable merchant but the stocks were so limited it only comes in bottles....not in cases T_T

Renee Geoffroy only produces 120,000 bottles a year...
yes 120,000 of everything...
guess this is only enough for France and the UK

for more information, do visit their website here
www.champagne-geoffroy.com