Inexpensive couples of quality grower's champagne served on a nice outdoor terrace overlooking... a gritty street lined with sex clubs and prostitutes. It's quite a combo. The charcuterie and cheese plates are standard, but it's the warm, witty personality of the proprietor and former comedienne Morgane Fleury that is the main draw for those looking for affordable, natural wine.
Shopping for Champagne fills me with embarrassment.
Every year, I promise myself I’ll swear off the stuff. There are, after all, dozens of other sparkling wine types available in Paris, all arguably better bargains than the world’s most famous wine. For along with Champagne’s uniquely chiseled acidity and grace, we pay for the fame, the name Champagne. And to find a broad selection of what I’d call serious Champagne – upper-tier cuvées from independent grower-producers, rather than the predictable, cola-like entry-level bottles of the big houses – I’m often obliged to patronise the Paris wine shops I otherwise avoid.