Les Riceys – A sea of tranquillity in an ocean of bubbles

A tranquil river scene in Les Riceys

Visit Les Riceys and you are visiting sleepy little villages in the Aube, miles away, both literally and figuratively speaking, from the Champagne centres of Epernay and Reims. They are also the home of one of the Champagne region's few still wines, the Rosé des Riceys. This is a bronzy pink coloured wine made from the Pinot Noir grape using the saignée method as opposed to the blending method, that is used to make most rosé champagne. It is a small appellation and it is rare to find this wine in France, except in the region, let alone England. Its appeal is thus its rarity and although this is a very pleasant dry rosé wine, it is rarely worth the price that the region demands. There are a number of producers including Alexandre Bonnet, Devaux and Bauser. The wines are best drunk young before the colour starts to go browner and less pink. It always surprises me that some restaurants in the area want to serve you old vintages of this and I usually know I am going to refuse them as soon as they pour the glass. In this respect the Rosé des Riceys is very different from vintage champagnes that can improve over many years.

Bauser Museum

The villages itself are worth a pleasant detour if you are in the area and can be reached within a shortish drive of Troyes or Chablis. There are a number of small champagne houses to visit in the area and Bauser is a good one to visit as they have a range of wines and champagnes to taste and an interesting little museum of old wine and champagne making artefacts. They also speak English. It is possible to eat and stay in some of the villages; we had a lovely welcome and a pleasant lunch in Hotel Le Marius in Les Ricey. The villages, comprising the commune of Les Riceys are Ricey-Haut, Ricey Haut-Rive and Ricey-Bas, are sleepy but picturesque; a number of my pictures accompany this blog.

There seems to be a growing interest in making Rosé des Riceys now, as at one time the locals found it less work and more profitable to sell their grapes to the big champagne houses rather than following the complicated appellation rules of Rosé des Riceys. Now with the growth in small producers it is gaining strength, and there are well over a dozen. The cause might also be helped by global warming as this is a wine that needs sum sun to ripen the grapes enough.

Les Riceys is the only commune in Champagne that makes all three Champagne appellations, the sparkling Champagne, Rosé des Riceys and Coteaux Champenois. This latter appellation is also for still wines, red, white or rosé. This area has only been making Champagne since 1911; before this it was regarded as a separate wine region just on the borders of Burgundy. Although the snobs of Reims and Epernay look down on the champagnes of the Cote des Bar and Les Riceys, they actually stand up very well in comparison and are well worth a try.

Rosé des Riceys normally has wild strawberry notes to its bouquet and taste and often has a nice length. I have tasted about five of different producers and vintages and at the moment rather like the 2009 that Bauser are selling now. We had a bottle last night with a dish of herb and sugar crusted salmon and tomato salsa that Jane cooked from a Matthew Smith recipe (pictured to the left). This excellent recipe can be found on the Orient Express British Pullman website and was a good match. Locally they recommend Chaource cheese as a pairing.

Overall, I would recommend both Les Riceys as a place to visit and Rosé des Riceys as a wine to try.