Category: Wine

Finally, we finished all the vineyard work. And yet, the thought of leaving Champagne is bittersweet.

This morning, our ever-enthusiastic host Florance took us to visit a champagne cooperative. These co-ops are organizations founded by winemakers to share the costs of machinery and other production needs. The one we visited has 70 members, with vineyard sizes ranging from less than 1 hectare to 17 hectares.

During harvest, each winemaker delivers their grapes to the cooperative. Grapes of the same quality are blended together—for example, all Grand Cru grapes are mixed—and the final champagne is sold under the cooperative’s brand. It honestly has a bit of a “communist” vibe!

In the afternoon, we checked out the Champagne Festival in Épernay. To be honest, it was a little underwhelming—just two short rows of stalls and not much in terms of performances. Maybe I had unrealistically high expectations for a French small town?

The highlight of the day, though, was a completely unexpected moment: we stumbled upon a wedding outside a church. Two long rows of motorcycles lined up to celebrate the newlyweds! When the couple walked out, the motorcycles revved in unison, and even passing cars honked to congratulate them. It was both cool and heartwarming.

We also spotted hot air balloons floating in the sky and couldn’t wait to get tickets—but sadly, due to the wind, flights were canceled. By our estimation, it was barely a breeze, so missing the ride was a real disappointment.

C’est la vie!

As evening approached, we drove to Chablis. The scenery along the way was breathtaking, and we even stumbled upon a vast field of sunflowers shimmering in the sunset. Today felt truly complete, and we can’t wait to share more delicious wines with you from Chablis!

Because of yesterday’s rest day, we had to leave at 5 a.m. for a more distant vineyard, working straight through until 1 p.m. This also marked our last day working in Champagne.

During this long eight-hour stretch, I found myself thinking about three things:

1. Physical work in a vineyard brings instant rewards

Whether it’s seeing the dramatic difference in the vines before and after tressage, or feeling yourself become more skilled with the work, the sense of achievement is immediate. It’s the kind of instant gratification that desk jobs rarely provide.

2. But I probably couldn’t do this long-term

Novelty is addictive—you start completely clueless, and then slowly master a new skill. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that come from putting in physical work under the sun can be intoxicating. But while I was working, I kept thinking: if this vineyard were mine, would I work as happily as Florance does—singing and swaying as she goes?

I don’t think I would. Once you know exactly how to do something, and you know exactly how it will turn out, the excitement fades…

So, I’d probably hire someone to do it for me. After all, owning a vineyard in Champagne must mean I’m rich, right? (Haha, just daydreaming…)

3. I might not love Pinot Noir as much anymore

During our days in Champagne, we worked with all three legally approved grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir. Today was all about Pinot Noir.

While tressage-ing, I noticed that Pinot Noir behaves very differently from the other two. Its grapes rot easily and the vines are fragile, snapping with the slightest mistake. Every time I accidentally broke a vine, I thought: this grape lacks resilience, like a pampered rich girl needing extra care. When I only drank the wine, I never really noticed this about Pinot Noir.

Being in the vineyard, up close with the vines, made me truly admire Chardonnay. Its wild, resilient growth is remarkable—it thrives even in poor soil, survives various pruning methods, and can withstand periods of neglect.

While reflecting on this, I couldn’t help but wonder about fairness in nature. Chardonnay is so resilient that it’s grown all over the world—but precisely because it’s everywhere, it’s sometimes looked down on by winemakers and consumers as “common.”

Moments like this make me realize that working the land is almost a form of meditation. 👇👇

Nothing particularly “eventful” happened today, but the happiness level was off the charts.

After last night’s music festival, we decided to take a day off to rest and enjoy some free time. Tomorrow we’ll make up for it with a super early 4 a.m. start.

After lunch, we were busy organizing footage, editing videos, and drafting posts when the neighbor popped over for a visit. That’s when we discovered that the neighbor had married a Chinese woman—and all it took was one wall separating us! Lily, a fellow Northerner from China, immediately made us feel right at home.

Northern Chinese hospitality is real. She took us on a little tour of her garden, showing off chives, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, peanuts, corn, raspberries… Before long, it was decided: tonight’s dinner would be at her place.

Thank heavens, thank fate, thank destiny for this encounter. Our homesick, non-cooking Chinese stomachs were saved. So today’s vlog isn’t about grapes or wine—it’s about chive pockets and the joys of life in the French countryside.

Lily harvested chives, kneaded dough, scrambled eggs, prepared the filling, and folded the pockets—all in one go. Honestly, this vlog ended up being a “Daily Food Diary: Chive Pocket Tutorial.” (Apparently chives grow back in just 20 days—perfect for “harvesting” repeatedly.)

Life in the French countryside is wonderfully slow-paced—at least if you have the time or are retired. Lily and her husband spend their days chatting with friends, visiting neighbors, swimming in their yard, or taking a leisurely afternoon nap. One easy, peaceful day after another.

And that’s how our day passed too. Being in a faraway country yet hearing familiar accents and tasting authentic chive pockets—that kind of happiness is priceless. 👇👇

Today was full, rewarding, and downright magical—because of hard work, delicious Doval Leroy champagne, and an unexpected music festival surprise.

Chapter 1: Finishing a Whole Vineyard

The most satisfying moment of the day? Completing the tressage for an entire vineyard. At the hilltop, Florance raised her arms and cheered “Très bien! Superb!” and we all snapped a commemorative group photo.

What touched me most wasn’t just seeing the vineyard neatly lined and trained—it was the sense of camaraderie, of everyone working together toward the same goal.

Chapter 2: Touring Doval Leroy Champagne

I always thought Doval Leroy would be a huge champagne house. It’s certainly sizeable, but the staff said they’re actually only medium-sized—maybe because they’re comparing themselves to giants like Moët & Chandon.

The family history is fascinating, but for the sake of time in the vlog, the most valuable part for me was seeing the champagne production process. Watching the whole line in action made the craft so much clearer—and of course… I fell in love with their champagne.

Chapter 3: A Surprise Music Festival

I’ve always loved these unexpected moments. On a previous trip through Lucca, Italy, we stumbled upon a free music festival. This time, in Champagne, luck struck again—we happened to catch one of the only two summer concerts of the season!

The lead singer was super handsome, performing Nirvana songs. A little kid rocked tiny headphones and waved her hands in rhythm, a shy girl mimicked the guitarist’s moves, and a sweet elderly couple cuddled together for warmth.

The sky was impossibly blue, the music was beautiful, and after two bottles of champagne… well, everything just felt perfect.

Today was all about working alongside a rebellious young guy in his “youthful angst” phase. Our task? Be competent factory-line helpers. This guy was icy-cool—the type who, at yesterday’s Israeli student party, just drank wine without saying a word.

As proud Chinese efficiency warriors, we couldn’t help ourselves. On the vineyard’s existing assembly-line workflow, our French colleague quickly became stressed and turned into a bottleneck… so naturally, we stepped up and took on extra tasks to keep things moving. Classic teamwork!

In the afternoon, Florance had a choir gathering, so we hitched a ride with her into town, arriving in Châlons-en-Champagne.

Did we use this opportunity to wander around and play? Nope. To catch up on vlogs delayed over the past few days, we camped out in a café for almost three hours. At that moment, I really missed internet speeds back home.

That evening, Florance and her family went out for fun, leaving us once again with the whole big house to ourselves. We’d planned to cook a simple tomato-and-egg dish… but despite there being over 20 chickens roaming nearby, we only found one egg. So, in the end, dinner was just bread.

Every day, I keep looking forward to a proper meal. I really don’t want to eat another baguette… (T_T)

Today was our very first day working in Champagne.

Maybe because she’s hosted so many WWOOFers, our new host Florance runs things in a much more structured way (though yes, we still miss Olivier). Here, our schedule is pretty straightforward: vineyard work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then the rest of the day is free.

This morning’s task was tressage—training and tying the vines—which is the main work this time of year. My biggest impression of Champagne so far? Straight lines. Every road, every vineyard boundary, every row of vines—it’s all ruler-straight. Even the vines themselves must be trained to grow straight up, so that machines can trim them later.

It sounds simple and repetitive, but it’s tougher than it looks. Hours of bending, lifting, and twisting really take a toll—especially on your neck and back. By the end, we were already feeling it.

The evening, though, more than made up for it. Florance and her husband Damien hosted a big party for a group of Israeli students on a study tour. Damien is incredibly generous—he just kept bringing out bottle after bottle after bottle. In the end… we polished off 16 bottles of wine. Sixteen!

Which means: for the first time on this trip, I actually got tipsy. We tasted so many unique, under-the-radar wines—let’s see if you recognize any of them 👇👇