Confrérie du Sabre d'Or

The outline tour programme for 2018 was:

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As with all of our tours, the package included everything - the accommodation, all meals and fine wines and dining, and the champagne and the tastings. As usual, we provided on-coach meals and wines including champagne London-Reims and Return. This particular tour also included the Grand Chapitre International and Soirée de Gala in Chouilly, Epernay on Saturday 17th November (see special notes below). The ticket price of the tour was all inclusive except for the Single Supplement.

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• Wednesday 14th November:

We rendezvous at the coach park on Bayswater Road at 08.00 for an 08.30 departure. Once the coach departs we start with a Champagne Brut non-vintage tasting from  five different houses so you may understand the different styles of Champagne. Breakfast and lunch (prepared by The Food Show) are served on board.

 

Once the coach has entered the tunnel, lunch will be served at your table with Burgundy. After exiting the tunnel and we are on the motorway heading for Reims we continue the tasting of champagnes, completing an examination of the different styles.

 

We arrive at the Hotel de la Paix, Reims at 17.30 local time and check  into  our  hotel  and  once  refreshed  and comfortable, we gather in the lobby for a 19.00 departure on foot to  Le Grande Café, across the square, where we will have dinner with Champagne from magnums and with some fine Burgundy and Claret with dinner.

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• Thursday 15th November:

Today  will  start  with  a  visit  to Champagne Taittinger in Reims and after a tour of their cellars and a very brief tasting of their current NV cuvée, Jean-Pierre, our host, will take us to have lunch at the Château with their entire range of Champagnes including the Comte de Champagne, Prélude, Nocturne, Rosé and the excellent Pinot Noir from their Californian vineyard in Carneros.

 

In the afternoon, we take a short trip out to Rilly la Montagne to visit Philippe Brugnon and taste a range of vintages (we will be returning there on Sunday for lunch, but it will then be full of Confrérie members enjoying the informal lunch). We shall take dinner at La  Vigneraie,  a short walk away and just behind our hotel.

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• Friday 16th November:

After breakfast the coach departs the hotel for a trip to the first Champagne house of the day - Jean Milan of Oger in the Côte de Blancs,  a  Grand Cru house (here we will have a tour of the cellar followed by a tasting).

 

Afterwards, we move to the Town of Ay and the restaurant Clos Saint Georges for a splendid lunch which puts us in the mood to go to Bouzy, and Champagne Delavenne, another  Grand Cru house but on the Montagne de Reims. This tasting includes the celebrated Bouzy Rouge and around 3 other Champagne cuvées. We shall take dinner at the Hotel Excelsior, in a private dining room

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• Saturday 17th November:

After breakfast in our hotel, the morning is free for you to carry out some shopping, or just take a stroll, ending up at Le Boulingrin  at Noon for a tasting and lunch with Grands Cuvées of famous houses - such as Bollinger La Grande Année, Dom Périgon, Joseph Perrier's 'Cuvée Josephine', and others. These de luxe cuvées have created a worldwide reputation for quality as well as the price! The lunch restaurant is placed in the centre of the city and you are free to walk there and meet up with those who prefer to take the coach. The afternoon is for you to enjoy and relax before the Grand Chapitre International at Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte in Chouilly, near Epernay. You will be given the coach's departure time from the hotel and its return late at night. The Grand Chapitre is followed by the Soirée de Gala and lengthy dinner with entertainment and dancing.

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• Sunday 18th November:

After breakfast we shall check out of the hotel and go to Rilly la Montagne and enjoy an informal visit of Philippe Brugnon's cellars, a tasting and a farewell lunch with, of course, his champagne and fine wines. We shall enjoy a nice picnic en route back to London so that you do not arrive hungry in London at 9pm.

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Special Notes

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• Whilst most dress codes are informal, even casual, the Gala Dinner on Saturday is Black Tie (if you are a commissioned member of the Confrérie du Sabre d'Or you should wear the regalia of your rank).

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• Visiting cellars below ground: please have a warm top to put on and comfortable shoes for the descent and ascent.

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• We have booked the Hotel de la Paix in the centre of Reims. We shall need to know - Double, Twin beds, singles when booking. We shall ask of any dietary requests in due course.

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• We shall be asking you for details of your Travel Insurance - the Insurer, the policy number and the insured name(s).

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• We shall need your mobile telephone number as this is an important means of communication if you become separated from the party, or any other mishap during the tour.

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• In respect of the new Date Protection legislation, we shall ask you to sign an agreement for us to have the above information and use it only as necessary and at our discretion. This will be a mandatory option on the booking form - coming soon.

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