The third and final champagne house we visited was by far the smallest
and newest of the three. We stumbled upon Paul-Etienne Saint Germain (PESG)
while walking along Champagne Avenue. It was offering three tastings for I
believe 12 euro. We were greeted by Agnes Lagneau, who along with her husband,
Jean-Michel, founded and run PESG. She said it took them four years of
preparation (getting all the necessary legal documents was not easy) and they
have been producing champagne for three years. Agnes mentioned that they
produce 30,000 (either bottles or cases, I forget which) a year, a small
fraction of Moet and Mercier.
Even though they are small, they produce five different champagnes:
Tradition, Rose, Charme, Divine and Exception, ranging in price from 16.50 to
35.50 euro. Jean-Michel had worked at leading champagne houses for 20 years and
finally realized his dream by starting PESG. He dropped by during our tasting
and we chatted. Both Agnes and Jean-Michel were very down-to-earth and it was a nice change from the corporate big-business champagne houses we had previously gone to.
Tradition, the entry level
of the five, is a brut grand cru blanc de blanc 100% chardonnay. There are
apple and pear notes with a more apply taste. JC88
Rose, using 90% pinot noir
and 10% chardonnay, has a candied apple scent. The wine is slightly sweet, but
offers a nice balance. JC90Charme has 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay. There is a cotton candy smell and slightly sour apple taste. It is creamier. JC88
Divine is 60% pinot noir and 40% chardonnay. It has a hint of apple and a very nice balance. JC91
My wife liked the Divine the best, so we bought a bottle of that to
take home. I'm glad that we decided to make the trip to Epernay. It is a nice little town and there is a lot of excellent champagne to taste here! I recommend doing your own tour to save money, go where you want to go and at your own pace.
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