Sorry for all the posts here but I'm having all sorts of trouble with this day trip to Reims! DH and I want to tour two Champagne houses/caves. Based on posts here I just tried to book Ruinart but they are full. Any other suggestions? We want to do one more commercialized tour and maybe one more independent tour. Thanks!

I suggested doing a google search, have you tried that yet?

We liked Piper Heidsieck: go to www.piper-heidsieck.com. It would qualify as "commercialised" - rather glitzy in fact. You finish up by doing your tasting in a room decorated like a trendy bar. It is worth spending more to have a dégustation of 3 champagnes (including vintage champagne).

Hi audrey,

Piper Heidsieck was my favourite--it was a lot of fun and the tasting room was beautiful.

We then just "showed up" at Taittinger and then at Pommery and made a reservation for their next tours.

We tried Ruinart and he said No! C'est impossible!! because we didn't have a reservation. Obviously that's their perogative but we seemed to be the only people on the estate and he was pretty snooty about it.

I think the difficulty you might have in visiting an independent winemaker is that it's not likely to be located in Reims. The independent winemakers are likely to be located in the countryside, in small villages. To reach them, you'd need a rental car.

If you do want to go for a drive and not just stay in the city, then I would recommend Bardy-Chauffert (www.champagne-bardy-chauffert.com) in Les Mesnil sur Oger.

See also http://winegeeks.com/appellations/54

My favorite was Pommery, followed by Louis Roederer. For Roederer tho, you need a special invite arranged by someone 'in the business'. Taittinger was good, as was Veuve Cliquoe.

Thanks! I will check out Pommery, Piper Heidsieck and Bardy-Chauffert. We may rent a car to see a bit of the countryside, we have not decided yet.

Richardsonsnm - Per my response to your other post, yes, I have tried doing internet searches for things but 1) for the restaurants I am not having all that much luck finding anything and 2) in general I prefer to get recommendations from people who have been there vs. just going to random places I find online. I have done lots of searches on this board and am trying not to ask repetitive questions - I would not have asked this at all if Ruinart had been available.

They are all good but my fav ws Tattinger. We were there 2 days after christmas and the guides had not shown up for work. One of the Tattingers came down and gave us a great tour followed by some phenominal champagne. Try Henriot for non commercial. The family just bought back the champ. house from the conglomerate that they had sold to.

lucygirl - when was it that you just showed up and were able to get a tour? We will be going on a Thursday in late June, so I am a little worried about not making a reservation . . . what do you think?

Some of the smaller champagne houses are in Reims. I had a great tour - one to one - in Palmer....free and I got to tase a LOT!!

audrey,

My sister and I were just there on May 29th. I asked the same question here about just showing up and was told not to worry. I did write down any info I could find regarding hours/tours of the houses I was interested in.

We were early so Piper-Heidsieck worked out perfectly for the a.m. with 2 more more in the afternoon.

Only one I've done is Taitinger. Showed up, when there was enogh people off we went.

The cellars are underneath remnants of old abbey destroyed in revolution, as well as in an area where the romans used to quarry stone. So you hear and see (strairways that lead up to nowhere) a different piece of history. Nice sampling at end, good shop. You can walk in about 20 mins from cathedral.

Youth hostels take everyone. However, the Bavarian Youth Hostels have a special regulation: Guests under 27 have priority. So, it is better to make a reservation.

It is also good to sign for membership (21 Euros).

For details, see:

http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/

Campgrounds do generally not rent sleeping bags. But many rent cabins/tents, often with linen.

Sorry, I mixed up two threads.

Ruinart was certainly the finest of our champagne tours because it was an individual tour arranged for me and my wife. Ruinart has arrangements with several area hotels, and they offer tours through those hotels, which may be why you can't make your own tour arrangements easily. Ours were made by Le Royal Champagne, which was a bit of a splurge for my wife's birthday. It turned out to be a most interesting experience, because we were there (in 2006) in the build-up to the World Cup match between Italy and France (and wound up watching the final match with the kitchen staff at the restaurant...a great heartbreaker for the French as soccer fans may note). But I am digressing in a major way. Apart from Ruinart, we enjoyed tours at both Taittinger and Veuve Cliquot, although the latter was rather commercialized. We had the most fun, however, wandering through the small towns in search of smaller producers. That was a hit and miss proposition, since some of the smaller houses offer no tours, although most are happy to offer you a taste. We enjoyed wandering through Hautvilliers (the birthplace of champagne) and Ays, but you'll need a car (or a driver) to get to those locations. Of course, the cathedral is also worth several hours. Have a great trip! Oops, now I see that this is a resurrected thread from 2007, so audreyleigh99, tell us what you did...or maybe we should just re-launch this topic.