Champagne is a region less than 2 hours from Paris which makes for fantastic week-ends.  Champagne tasting totally fits my definition of luxury travel. The region is beautifull to wander around and most champagne house are open to the public and offer champagne tasting. Fun!

 

1.     Epernay

 

Of course, Reims is the main city of the Champagne Area, but it is possible to discover the heart of this region.  Epernay, with its splendid facades of villas that enclose some of the most famous brands.

Under the city hundred kilometers of wineries (throughout the region there are 600 kilometers of tunnels that host the precious bottles) and in the nearby abbey of Hautviller, the Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon gave life to the adventure. At the end of the seventeenth century, he started the cultivation of pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay grapes and invented the technique of their balanced assembly.

Choosing Epernay as a starting point for wine tasting is the best decision because in its surroundings there are several routes that you can follow.

2.     Reims

 

Reims, with its one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants, is the most important city in the region. Here the names of the great Maisons coexist. This the perfect place where to buy your bottles. I want to mention the two wine shops on the square of the Cathedral of Reims, one on the left corner, Le Parvis, and one on the right, Cave des Sacres. The first is very firm on the big fashion Maisons, the second one has a nice selection of small producers. Interesting prices, but it depends on the champagne. Nevertheless, Reims is not just champagne. Check out the “biscuit de Reims” by Fossier (rue Jacques Maritain), then the very typical (they were created in 1691) Bisquit Roses, but also the famous Macarons, as well as Nonnettes, Pain d’Épices, and other specialties.

3.     Aÿ

 

Few kilometers from Epernay, it is possible to reach the village of Ay, where you can knock on the door of the Deutz house, founded here by Wiliam Deutz and Pierre Geldermann in 1838 and today among the maisons of excellence. To taste the wines and visit the maison, it is absolutely worth to start with an excellent taste.

There are also many cooperative in the Champagne area and the most ancient is localized in Ay: the Collet-Cogevi to which hundreds of farmers give their grapes for the production of a dozen labels. The visit is interesting because this reality shows the many variations that the Champagne can have.

4.     Baslieux-sous-Châtillon

 

To discover the land of pinot meunier, you should go to Baslieux-sous-Châtillon into the Marne Valley.

Eric Taillet, in the cellar that bears his name, can tell you all about this vine that, in few, vinify in purity.

Very traditional agriculture without any mechanical work and 35 thousand bottles produced: since the end of the 90s has reached great splendour and its wines are worth the stop in a less touristy and wilder area of the Champagne.

 

5.    Champagne  SELOSSE at les Avises

 

When we talk about champagne, we cannot miss the champagne SELOSSE, probably one of the best and most exclusive champagne in the world.
The champagne sélosse is not mass manufactured but it is raised and produced in the same way as the Bourgogne gets its great wines.
With 7.5 hectares of vines, Jacques Sélosse produces less than 60 000 bottles a year. Which when we compare it to the amount of champagne produced each year is a drop of water. This makes this champagne almost impossible to find.

There is however a possibility to try this champagne and we are sharing it with you here:
Jacques Sélosse and his wife are also hoteliers …. Their hotel, called the Avises is a really charming hotel in the middle of the vineyards
A gourmet restaurant is attached to the hotel for hotel guests and the wine accompanying the meal is of course champagne … which could prove your only chance to taste this exclusive champagne

For more info about the Avises hotel, click here 

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TIPS

Great maisons such as Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, Mumm, Piper-Heidsieck, but also Mercier (champagne reserved for the French market), Taittinger and Perrier-Jouët and others can be visited without an appointment. They organize the visits well, with lots of language guides and, depending on the formula chosen, also a tasting at the end. Dom Pérignon and other mythical names like Louis Roederer, Krug, Bollingernot provide visits. By the way, remember that in France after 17:00 no one gives you any more attention.

Completely different speech for the little ones. These producers also live on tourism, so they are almost always open and ready to receive you, in many cases even on Saturdays, since in most cases they live adjacent to the winery. Of course, I recommend contacting them in advance – now they all have the website.

 

Have you ever done Champagne tasting in champagne? I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a comment below.