Mourmelon saffron: a Champagne treasure grown with passion

In the 1940s, Sandrine Bernier-Delporte's grandfather Albert, a dairyman by trade, set up his first beehives and passed on his love of bees to his two sons. Attracted to beekeeping in turn, Sandrine took up the torch in 2011, even though she was not predestined to do so. " Back then, beekeeping was a man's job. My father never took me into the apiary. My husband Sébastien passed on his gestures to me, but he was allowed to accompany him. "She repeats these gestures with fervor to produce some thirty summer and spring honeys. It has to be said that, with the nearby military camp classified as a Natura 2000 zone, the biodiversity is exceptional!

The keeper of the 25 hives uses her grandfather's uncapping knife to free the honey from the cells. A keen cook, she then creates her own recipes. The candied ginger honey is just like her: bold and generous! Bergamot honey gently intoxicates the palate, while Madagascar vanilla honey awakens childhood memories. The beekeeper's latest whim? A recipe with Sichuan and Timut peppers, which she also cultivates in her Garden of Eden, not far from her hazelnut trees and one of her six saffron plots.

On well-drained, well-rested soil (the crop rotation is ten years), she plants and tends these frost-averse mauve Crocus sativum bulbs by hand. A daring gamble, given that Mourmelon-le-Grand is one of the coldest villages on the plains! Not to mention the fact that it takes 200 flowers to produce 125 dry grams of saffron (bearing in mind that one bulb yields an average of 1.9 flowers). Sandrine and Sébastien, each of whom has a parallel profession, have to work like goldsmiths. " We can't make a living from it, but we're still passionate about it!

Every morning in October, the two partners pick the flowers that are still closed at sunrise. If some have opened under the action of the sun (a godsend for the pollen grains), they use them to make their saffron honey, which stays in the jar for 6 months, compared with 3 for vanilla and 2 for citrus. The finest pistils, meanwhile, are dried using a secret method. This bright red saffron is sold the year after harvest, from April onwards. While 2022 was a fine vintage, 2023 and its Indian summer made the saffron growers sweat, as it's usually the September rain that triggers flowering. A loss quickly digested by Sandrine Bernier-Delporte, who in the same year became the first grower to become a professional member of the Toques Françaises association.

Three questions for Phlippe Mille, chef at Arbane restaurant in Reims

After fourteen years at Domaine Les Crayères, MOF Philippe Mille has put down roots in an 1874 townhouse. Here, he nurtures his vision of the Champagne terroir, with a vegetal menu and grape-like juices.

How did you hear about Safran de Céleste et Océane?

Philippe Mille: At the very first farmers' market. Sandrine came with a small test tube of pistils. First we worked on the saffron, then together we made the lemon honey, because I couldn't find the honeys I had at home in the Sarthe.

How do you use these products?

P.M. : Saffron is hard to tame: it never has the same fragrance from one season to the next. It will come to the fore with smoked preparations, blood oranges and tomatoes. Cold temperatures asepticize it and make it less fragrant, whereas when lightly infused, in a cream or broth, its floral side is revealed. Just after the MOF competition, in 2011, I first imagined a saffron smoked cream served with gamberoni and haddock, the fish I'd worked on during the trials. Then I adapted saffron for dessert, with citrus fruits. I like to gather around color: this spice also works very well with rhubarb, hibiscus, raspberries, strawberries, beet, lobster and crayfish. As for honeys, I love the popcorn flavour of hazelnut honey, and citrus honeys work well with champagne.

Was it this return to local roots that made you want to work with Sandrine and Sébastien?

P.M.: Yes, they introduced me to beekeeping! It's enriching for me to see their work, to understand how the product is made and processed. Their saffron is atypical. And local at that! This time of exchange also allows us to understand each other better. I think we need that to fuel our creativity.