France V: Champagne

We toured the Wine Caves of Champagne. I had in my mind Wine Cellars. But no there are 100's of kM of caves below the cities that were originally dug out by the Romans (and the Gauls!) then used by the wineries.
Not too bad to go to bed and wake up to Champagne:



Here is the entrance into the wine caves in Pommery

We are either going to find the Phantom of the Opera or a wine cave:

Anyone for a Wine Cave Marathon?

Here are some racks where the gradually increase the angle of the bottle to separate the yeast:

Here are some "live" bottles that will be stored between 3-10 years.

Here are some remaining bottles from old Vintages, yes there is a bottle left of 1874 if anyone is interested!

This Barrel held over 100,000 bottles of champagne sent to St Louis for the 1904 Worlds Fair. The carvings depict the city of Reims (w/ Cathedral on the bottom left) introducing the US to Champagne (Notice Statue of Liberty on top left).