Côte des Bar: A pocket of Champagne brimming with character

Alexandre Bonnet vineyards, looking east over the village of Ricey-Bas in the Barséquanais.Glancing down at my feet as dinner arrived, I felt a little self-conscious. Any trip to the smart Champagne houses of Reims and Epernay normally requires a clean pair of shoes to be stowed in the car boot.
But the tone is a little more agricultural here, 90 minutes’ drive south in Champagne’s Côte des Bar region, and my sole set of footwear – a pair of hiking boots – wa