travelgourmet

Anyone with any experience touring Champagne? My wife and I are looking to do a day trip to taste at some of the houses. We are familiar with the “prestige” places and would prefer to taste at grower-producer houses. We’ve found a tour company that can accommodate us on a private tour, but we always just do it on our own in the US and I was hoping for insights into whether that would work well in Champagne.

HappyTrvlr

We stayed near Epernay and toured Moet et Chandon, so much history there.We also visited Reims.

PalenQ

You'd need a car to do that on your own - and those places IME of biking thru this area many times are not much - much better to tour the famous Champagne Houses and caves in Reims or Epernay like HappyTrvl says - Reims also has a great cathedral and other neat things to do. Book train tickets yourself - www.oui.sncf - French Railways site and maybe get discounted fares - can book at station in Paris but these trains can sometimes be full at certain times. www.seat61.com has loads of booking own tickets online - general info French trains BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

To me the actual vineyards are ho-hum but the tour of the caves where the bubbly is stored to fruition are much much more interesting and small producers on site just have very little IME.

travelgourmet

Just so we are on the same page, when we go tasting we are there for tasting. Visiting grounds or caves is secondary, at best. We are targeting grower-producers as it means an opportunity to taste something different.

bilboburgler

Go to Epernay, walk into the tourist info office, ask for their little independant wine makers book, look up the local ones, hire a couple of bikes from the TI and head off.

Or just walk up the Avenue and taste at the grands marques.

PalenQ

Then take a tour or research and rent car - there are many small vintners along the Marne River roads that we used to bike along - everywhere and yes tastings and sales of small batch Champagnes. Train to Reims or Epernay and rent car or take tour. Maybe some folks here will have experience but rarely seen that discussed here. Or just Google and look at TripAdvisor and plan own trip but tour may be cheaper than you renting a car and gas, etc.

Macross

But the caves are so interesting. I loved that part the most.

aliced

By all means, do on your own. Rent a car leaving Paris, stop and visit Reims, stay in Epernay (the Royal Champagne is a treat), and be sure to go to Dom Perignon in Hautvillers, a charming little hamlet, not quite a village. By all means do the "biggies." We were there probably 20 years ago, The houses (or shall I say caves) will give their own tours anyway, so why listen to someone else who can't speak for the bubbly you're visiting.

denisea

I highly recommend Billecart-Salmon...we started in Clos Saint Hilaire to see the plot of land that qualifies as a Clos, then toured the area for pressing/fermentation, aging and then the tasting is focused on your interests. Very well done with a very small group. Not a corporate tour. The Crayeres at Ruinart were impressive and worth visiting. We did it ourselves but only had time for two houses, as a results (Train to Reims, cab from Reims to Mareuil sur Ay, free ride from fellow tasters at Billecart Salmon otherwise it would have been a taxi to Epernay and train back to Paris.

geetika

Last September we did one big house, Tattinger, chosen mainly for the extensive caves built into the ruins of an old Greco-Roman abbaye. The tour of course included the mandatory tasting, delicious. We also had excellent champagne at lunch on both days we were in the area, fist in Reims and the second day in Epernay.

We were staying at a gite in Avize belonging to one of the smaller producers and did a tasting with them, about 18 different vintages and I must admit to being a little happier than usual at the end of it all...We also stopped at a couple of small producers on the Route du Champagne between Reims and Epernay and both were excellent.

Another vote for Hautvillers, a lovely little village on the top of a hill. Do visit the small chapel with the grave of Dom Perignon. The drive is lovely, with vineyards on both sides and the river meandering along the valley...We're definitely planning another weekend getaway one of these days!

chartley

Some years ago, we visited Sourdet-Diot, between Reims and Chateau-Thierry. We arrived unannounced, which made for some problems, but had an enjoyable visit, a tour round the caves, and a conversation about politics and other matters. I think we bought about a dozen bottles, but were travelling by car from the U.K. so that was planned for.
Champagne Sourdet Diot - Accueil - Une passion familiale