Champagne · France
Champagne, the world's celebration wine, from the grand houses to the growers behind them
You go down a spiral stair into chalk tunnels dug by hand, cold and white and quiet, where millions of bottles rest in the dark under Reims and Epernay. Up in the villages the pace is slow: rows of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier along the Cote des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims, a grower who has given years to a single blend, the soft pop and the thin rising thread of bubbles. The bubbles come from a second fermentation inside each sealed bottle, and the chalk under your feet is why it tastes the way it does. Next to the famous houses on the Avenue de Champagne, we take you to the small growers who press their own fruit.
Why we come back here
Behind the famous names, a family in the chalk.
Champagne is the one wine the whole world reaches for to mark something. Behind that is a quiet farming region: families in small villages who give years to a single bottle, turning it by hand in the chalk and waiting. The theatre of the grande marque houses, the big famous names, is real and worth seeing, and so is the grower down the lane who presses only his own fruit.
What surprises Guy Haran’s travellers most is who stands behind the famous labels. In a Grand Cru village like Bouzy, a family farms its own chalk, presses only the first juice, and the winemaker pours for you at her own kitchen table. We spend real time there, in the half of Champagne most day-trippers from Paris only read about.
The flavour of the place
The method, the chalk, the grapes, and the table.
The method
Champagne gets its bubbles from a second fermentation inside the bottle. It rests in the cold on its lees, the spent yeast, and is turned bottle by bottle. The sediment is then frozen and shot out, a step called disgorging, and a little wine topped up before the cork goes in. Years can pass before a bottle leaves the cellar.
The chalk
Under Reims and Epernay run chalk cellars, the crayeres, some cut by the Gallo-Romans in the 3rd and 4th centuries. They hold a steady 11 degrees and near-total humidity, and roughly 200 million bottles rest in the chalk beneath the Avenue de Champagne alone.
The grapes
3 grapes, each in its place: Chardonnay on the Cote des Blancs, Pinot Noir on the Montagne de Reims, Pinot Meunier in the Vallee de la Marne. A blanc de blancs is all Chardonnay. The chalk is why each grape sits where it does.
The table
Here Champagne is poured across the whole meal, from the first glass to the cheese. We move from a grande marque dining room to a village wine bar with a long list of grower Champagne by the glass.
Champagne wine, in short
One place, one method.
Champagne is sparkling wine from one place, made by a second fermentation in the bottle from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Its sub-regions each favour a grape: the Cote des Blancs for Chardonnay and blanc de blancs, the Montagne de Reims for Pinot Noir, the Vallee de la Marne for Pinot Meunier, and the Cote des Bar in the south, driven by growers. The small print on every label, RM or NM, tells you whether a grower or a house made it.
Our Champagne field notes read the region village by village, on the blog.
One day, in detail
To give you the feel.
A real day from a recent Champagne trip, built from the producers and experiences we know here.
Down into a hand-dug chalk cellar under Epernay, the first glass poured among bottles resting metres into the rock.
A grower estate on the Montagne de Reims, where the winemaker walks you through her own rows and pours from the barrel.
Lunch in a grande marque dining room, the house style matched plate by plate.
The Grand Cru village of Bouzy, tasting a benchmark Pinot Noir with the family that grows it.
A village wine bar, a long grower list by the glass, and no reason to leave early.
Full sample itinerary available as a PDF.
See the full five-day sample itinerary →Who opens their doors to us here
Friends, twenty years in.
The Avenue-de-Champagne family house
six generations deep, pressing only the first juice.
The 13th-generation woman winemaker
who trained at the famous houses before coming home to farm her family's chalk.
The Bouzy grower
a Grand Cru family on south-facing slopes with their own take on Pinot Noir.
The five-generation Premier Cru grower
black grapes and long years in the cellar.
The art-de-vivre estate near Ay
a 19th-century house run as much as a school of French living as a winery.
The village wine bar
a deep by-the-glass grower list for a slow evening.
When to come
Every season here has its own light.
May
May
Bloom in the vines, mild days around 10 to 19 degrees, and growers with time to sit down.
June to August
June to August
Warm and lively, the houses at full swing, long light in the villages.
September
September
Harvest. The famous houses are at their most alive, and the small growers at their hardest to reach, which shapes how we plan the week.
October
October
Autumn colour, quieter villages, the cellars still cold and full.
Champagne vs Burgundy
Which one fits you better?
Both are benchmark French regions built on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, so travellers often weigh one against the other, and plenty do both on one private journey. Here is how they differ.
Champagne
Chalk cellars, blending, and grande-marque theatre
The feeling
Glamour with reach: grand chalk-cellar houses and a coronation-era cathedral city, 90 minutes by train from Paris.
The wine
Sparkling wine built by blending and long ageing, from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
The landscape
Chalk cellars under Reims and Epernay, and quiet grower villages along the Cote des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims.
The food
Champagne poured across the whole meal, from grande marque dining rooms to village tables.
Best for
Understanding why the world celebrates with one wine, and pairing grande-marque theatre with grower intimacy.
Burgundy
Single-vineyard climats, Pinot Noir, and deep terroir
The feeling
Deep and rural, tiny family estates and named climats, slower to read and further from a city.
The wine
Still wine at its most precise, single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plot by plot.
The landscape
A gentle escarpment of walled climats down the Cote d’Or, village after village.
The food
The richer classical French kitchen, beef bourguignon, Bresse chicken and Epoisses.
Best for
Going deep on terroir at the highest level. Many travellers do both regions with us.
YOUR PLACE AT THE TABLE
The table is already set for you.
Tell us who is coming and how you like to drink, and we build the trip around it: the houses, the growers, the tables, the pace.
A real person replies, usually the same day.
Champagne at a glance
The shape of a trip, in short.
The shape of a trip, in short.
- Ideal trip length
- 3 to 4 days, easily added to Paris or paired with Burgundy.
- Seasons
- May to October for the vines, September for the harvest.
- Getting there
- about 90 minutes by train from Paris to Reims or Epernay.
- Pace
- two towns and the slopes between them, Reims and Epernay and the Grand Cru villages.
- Where you stay
- boutique hotels between Reims and Epernay.
- Wine focus
- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier; grande marque houses and RM growers; blanc de blancs.
- Culinary focus
- Champenois cooking across the whole meal, grande marque dining rooms and grower wine bars.
- Best for
- couples, celebrations, and anyone who wants to understand Champagne from the inside.
A few things people ask
About a trip to Champagne.
What is grower Champagne, and how is it different from a grande marque?
A grower, marked RM (recoltant-manipulant) on the label, makes Champagne mostly from grapes grown on their own land, so the wine speaks of one family and a few villages. A grande marque, marked NM (negociant-manipulant), buys grapes from many growers to blend a consistent house style year after year. Our trips take you to both.
How is Champagne made?
By the traditional method. The base wine is bottled with a little yeast and sugar for a second fermentation inside the bottle, which creates the bubbles. It then ages on its lees, is turned, and is finally disgorged and dosed before the cork goes in, a process that can take years.
What is the best time to visit Champagne?
May to October, with May bringing bloom and mild weather around 10 to 19 degrees. Harvest in September looks romantic and the big houses are at their liveliest, but it is the hardest time to reach small growers, so we plan around it.
Reims or Epernay, where should a Champagne tour be based?
Reims is the larger city, with the grand houses, the cathedral and city life. Epernay is smaller and centred on the Avenue de Champagne, where the big houses cluster along one walkable street above the cellars. Both sit about 90 minutes from Paris, and we usually use both, plus the Grand Cru villages between them.
Is Champagne worth visiting?
Yes. It is one of the most famous wines in the world, and seeing where it comes from, the chalk cellars, the villages and the people who make it, changes how you drink it. It is also close and easy from Paris.
How many days do you need in Champagne?
3 to 4 days lets you see a grande marque house, spend real time with small growers in the Grand Cru villages, taste across the sub-regions and eat well, without rushing. Champagne also works as a 1 or 2 day add-on to Paris.
What are the crayeres, the chalk cellars of Reims?
Bottle-shaped chalk pits first dug by the Gallo-Romans from the 3rd and 4th centuries, later linked into kilometres of galleries beneath the city. They hold a constant 11 degrees and near-total humidity, ideal for ageing, and the Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2015.
Did Dom Perignon invent Champagne?
No. He was a real 17th-century monk at Hautvillers who improved the still wines and the blending and pressing, but he did not invent the bubbles, and the come quickly I am tasting stars line is a late-1800s advertisement. Sparkling only became the dominant style in the mid-19th century.
What is the difference between blanc de blancs and blanc de noirs?
Blanc de blancs is made only from white grapes, meaning Chardonnay, and tends to be fine and precise. Blanc de noirs is made only from black grapes, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and tends to be broader and richer.
How far is Champagne from Paris?
About 90 minutes by train to Reims or Epernay, which is why Champagne works both as a standalone trip and as an add-on to Paris.
Can you visit small grower producers, not just the big houses?
Yes, and it is our signature here. For every famous house on the Avenue de Champagne, we take you to several small grower estates in named Grand and Premier Cru villages, where the winemaker often pours for you personally.
Champagne or Burgundy for a wine trip?
Champagne to understand the world’s celebration wine and to pair grande-marque theatre with grower intimacy, all close to Paris. Burgundy to go deep on single-vineyard Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at the highest level, at a slower rural pace. Many travellers do both with us.
How many bottles are stored under the Avenue de Champagne?
About 200 million bottles rest in the chalk cellars beneath the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay alone, kept at a steady 11 degrees and near-total humidity while they age.
What are the sub-regions of Champagne?
Four main areas, each favouring a grape: the Montagne de Reims for Pinot Noir, the Cote des Blancs for Chardonnay and blanc de blancs, the Vallee de la Marne for Pinot Meunier, and the grower-driven Cote des Bar in the south.
What does Grand Cru mean in Champagne?
In Champagne, Grand Cru and Premier Cru rank whole villages rather than single plots. The top villages, like Bouzy for Pinot Noir, carry Grand Cru status, and our trips spend real time with the growers who farm them.
Do you need to speak French in Champagne?
No. English is widely spoken across the houses and the wine trade, and on our trips your hosts and guides work in English throughout.
Can you combine Champagne with Paris or Burgundy?
Yes. Champagne sits about 90 minutes by train from Paris, so it works as an add-on to the city, and many travellers pair it with Burgundy to go deeper on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. We build the routing around the time you have.
What food is Champagne known for?
Here Champagne is poured across the whole meal. Expect Champenois cooking matched to the house style, from grande marque dining rooms to village wine bars with long grower lists by the glass.
Designed by Vinspiration
Built by the two of us.
Every Champagne trip is built by hand by the two of us, from relationships with producers we have kept for years, not from a catalogue.
Guy Haran
Founder & CEOAn international wine judge with 20 years building wine journeys across Champagne and beyond. A Riedel ambassador and WSET-trained wine educator, author of the book Wine Journey and host of the Wine is Basic podcast. The friendships that open both the grande marque cellars and the grower estates across the Montagne de Reims and the Cote des Blancs are his, built one harvest at a time.
Mor Koral
Co-founderMor shapes each trip around the people travelling, so the days move at your pace and reach the doors most visitors drive past. She keeps the pace human and the details right, from the houses and the grower villages to where you rest at the end of the day.