A gentle conversation with Gilles de la Bassetiere, President of Champagne de Venoge, Épernay
Dear readers, one of the great thing about visiting Paris, is that it’s not just about indulging oneself in the ideal of romanticism of the city, doing some luxury goods shopping on the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, but a way to experience the quintessential Parisian (or French) “art de vivre”, when it comes to “art de vivre”, what else is better than enjoying an elegant dinner over a glass of champagne, and experience the ultimate “art de vivre” in Parisian style, right? If you are also a huge fan of champagne like I do, one thing that should put into your ‘to do’ list, is to pay a visit to Épernay, one of the most significant city in the Champagne region, where you can find some of the most famous and reputed champagne cellars there. Épernay is not a strange name to me at all as I’ve been there once back in 2014, of course, with my intention to visit one of the world-famous champagne cellar there; after almost a decade later, this time I revisited this charming champagne city once again for another purpose, and that is, to visit one of my newly beloved champagne house – Champagne de Venoge. For those of you might be able to recall, I have previously written a blog about the remarkable champagne by this esteemed champagne maison, but their exquisite champagne keep lingering in my head from time to time as I was obsessed with their history and their spectacular grand estate, therefore, with the little help of this champagne house, I eventually made my visit there in July.
Upon my arrival at the estate and waiting in the classic meeting room, a French gentleman walked in and greeted me in person, and that was my first encounter with Mr. Gilles de la Bassetiere, President of Champagne de Venoge. Having a flattering and sophisticated Frenchmen demeanor and charm, and his profound knowledge about the champagne house, Gilles walked me through some of the most iconic places in the estate, even up to the library to show me some of the house’s ancient champagne order record which traced back as far as more than a century ago, the trade record to Asia! I was impressed with how well these artefacts are still preserved in such a good condition, and how deep the history about the champagne trade and relationship with Asia! Of course, the amazement doesn’t end there, we continued our way to the house’s cellar in the basement, and have a look with some of the house’s rare vintages, then headed to the elegantly furnished main salon for a round of champagne tasting. Over the tasting session, Gilles and I had a wonderful conversation, not only about the house’s remarkable champagne, but we also talked about the champagne enjoyment by different culture (from the US to Asia), how does it evolve and related to our daily life, in particular gentleman’s lifestyle; and then I suddenly got an idea to invite Gilles to have a conversation with me again here in my blog, so that it enables you all, my dear readers, an opportunity to experience the same kind of joy and excitement that I had when I was spending my time with Gilles in the estate of Champagne de Venoge. Without further ado, let’s dive into this conversation now!
My Modern Darcy: Hi Gilles, a delight to have you here today! So, it’s been a while since we chatted during my visit back in July, how’s your summer holiday? Also, how’s the feedback of the vintage Renault car which exhibited in front of the estate of Champagne de Venoge?
Gilles de la Bassetiere: Hi My Modern Darcy, great family holidays in Vendée (Southwest of France). We had a lot of success with the Vivastella 1934, we also add a little Eiffel Tower during the Olympic Games.
MMD: Can you tell us what brings you to the champagne field at the first place? And what fascinates you so much about champagne – the wine, the savoir-faire and even the heritage?
GdlB: My grandfather was a wine producer in a little appellation in Vendée and I always been interested by wines, I can say that Champagne is the king of wines, the elaboration is complex but the result is unique. Champagne exists thanks to the king Louis XV who authorized the bottling of wine from Champagne the 25th May 1728.
MMD: What sets Champagne de Venoge apart from other champagne houses in the region? And how did you achieve that?
GdlB: The particularity of (Champagne) de Venoge is that we elaborate all kinds of Champagne, we also use only the first press of the grape (using 1.5 kg instead of 1.2), after we have a very special bottle with the Champagne des Princes and the Louis XV cuvées. We have a style which combined freshness and complexity, Champagne needs time and the recognition we have today come from this long process.
MMD: As far as I understand, Champagne de Venoge still uses the traditional champagne making method to produce the wine, can you elaborate more how and why is that so crucial in order to produce an exceptional champagne?
GdlB: As all the Champagne houses we use the traditional «méthode Champenoise », Champagne de Venoge’s particularity is the aging process which is much longer that what is require for Champagne. Once again, to make a great Champagne, of course you need great grapes, but also a lot of patience and time.
MMD: In your opinion, how to define a bottle of exquisite champagne? What are the key criteria?
GdlB: For me, the best Champagne is the Champagne when you had you first glass you want to have another one. As I said before, we look for complexity but without being too heavy, we look for freshness.
MMD: Among some of the exceptional vintages from your maison, if you have to pick, which one(s) is/are your favorite and why?
GdlB: I would say 1979 which is for me the perfect balance year with sugar and acidity. In addition, I would recommend the Cordon bleu brut, The Princes brut 2nd édition, the grand vin des princes rosé 2015 and the Louis XV 2014.
MMD: Over our meeting during the tasting, we have talked about the how champagne being perceived and consumed in different culture (from US to Asia etc.) as you’ve been spending your champagne career time in the US, so can you tell us how does it evolve compare with the time perhaps back in decades ago? And how do you see the future of your house’s champagne heading?
GdlB: My parents lived 4 years in China, I spend some time in Southeast Asia during my studies. I noticed that at that time, in general, they didn’t like sparkling (even sparkling water) very much, which was a problem for Champagne. Today, more and more people are travelling and Asian people are getting use to European culture; today, we have a lot of markets growing in Asia with a lot of new countries buying our Champagnes (such as Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines…)
MMD: Let’s talk about ‘l’art de vivre’, in your opinion, how does champagne associate with a modern gentleman’s art of living? And what should be the best (or proper) way to enjoy a refined champagne?
GdlB: Since the beginning, Champagne is a flagship of art de vivre. If you look at the first two paintings where you see bottles of Sparkling Champagne « déjeuner d'huîtres » (“The Oyster Dinner”) by Jean-François de Troyes 1735, and « déjeuner de Jambon » (“The Ham Dinner”) by Nicolas Lancret 1735, Champagne have been very festive. It is, very often, the first wine that you drink in a dinner. History, elegance, luxury and tradition, Champagne has it all! No great party without Champagne.
MMD: Another interesting topic that we talked about is the champagne and perfume, and I’d like to explore more about your interest with perfume, how does it come about? And how does it relate to the art, or even savoir-faire, of champagne?
GdlB: I always thought that the making of Champagne and perfume were very similar. In Champagne we do the assemblage of different grapes coming from different villages, for perfume it is the assemblage of different scents coming from all around the world. Even if perfume exists from millionaire, like Champagne perfume really develope during Louis XV reign where the court was name « la cour parfumée » (“the fragrant courtyard”).
MMD: let’s talk about style, in your opinion, what does ‘style’ mean to you? Also, when it comes to timeless gentleman’s style, what are the key elements and how to achieve it?
GdlB: The Champagne de Venoge motto is « style, quality and prestige ». For me, there are not only a unique style, everybody can have his own style and that what makes the greatness of humanity. If I talk about Champagne de Venoge, we can say that we have our own style but it doesn’t mean that the others are not good, you have to find your own style.
MMD: Besides well-dressed and well-groomed, in your opinion, what other qualities that a modern gentleman should have?
GdlB: For me, even more important than well dressed and well groomed, a gentleman is someone which is nice with people, it is also someone with values.
MMD: if someone approaches you one day and asks you how to develop a successful career in the champagne field, what is your advice?
GdlB: It would work for Champagne but also other fields: “be passionate with what you do, work hard and the success will come".
Special thanks to Mr. Gilles de la Bassetiere, Champagne de Venoge.
Image courtesy of Champagne de Venoge, Épernay.
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