Champagne from Champagne

[Stamp]

I am off to Champagne and want to find smaller vineyards who do tours and sell good fizz cheap at the vine gate. I have some ideas, but as this is "PISTONHEADS, CHAMPAGNE MATTERS!", I thought I would ask if anyone has any recommendations

[thehawk]

Not so small, but one of the best tours is with Pommery in Reims.

[Skyrat]

What other kind of Champagne is there?

[Shar2]

Try Vilmart in Rilly La Montagne, Mercier in Epernay, Ruinart in Reims. Bollinger is actually a very good House to visit.

[scotal]

If you want to visit Ruinart i think you have to book , same with Veuve Cliquot (smae ownership I think) I have noidea if they have shops at thie rchateau though.

As said the Pommery tour is pretty good.

[Shar2]

Another nice House to visit was Moutardier in Vallée de la Marne. Run by a very enthusiastic Englishman, they were very welcoming when we went on the XKEC Champagne Tour last year.

[Zippee]

Do a tour at one of the large houses - we did Tattinger a couple of weeks ago, but don't buy from them as they are often more expensive than both the UK and other shops in Reims.
We buy all our champagne from a small house in Ay called Hamm.
Chap there doesn't speak english but we always have a good game of charades describing what we want.

[AeroMan]

I agree with Zippee, but it's good to try and do two tours, one with a major house and then one with a much smaller house. In Ay it has got to be Bollinger, though they don't do tours, or its younger sister, Ayala. Excellent champagne, especially their non-dosage Rose Mmm!

Try this site for ideas: http://www.maisons-champagne.com/traduction/englis...

HTH

[Stamp]

Thanks guys so far, lots to see.
I have decided on Tattinger for sure and a couple of smaller houses. We are booked now for 4 nights and want to explore Reims as well as sample Champagnes. For those who drive down, is there anything worth stopping for on the way?
Also, where is the best place for good wine and the odd cigar without going to the likes of Eastenders?

Edited by Stamp on Saturday 6th September 21:03

[eightseventhree]

we had a bottle of non vintage Taittinger Demi-sec the other night for our anniversary. .

Very tasty indeed

[Piglet]

Stamp said:

Also, where is the best place for good wine and the odd cigar without going to the likes of Eastenders?

We use Calais Vin http://www.calais-vins.com/ helpful staff and the place actually has French customers! Easy to find, just off the Autoroute. They do some nice wine boxes which are fine (and very cheap!) for every day drinking, they have a good mid range and also have some very very very nice wines tucked away in a more exclusive area if that's your thing. They have a good tasting bar and are usually quite happy for customers to test multiple wines.

Not sure if they sell tobacco.

[Shar2]

AeroMan said:

I agree with Zippee, but it's good to try and do two tours, one with a major house and then one with a much smaller house. In Ay it has got to be Bollinger, though they don't do tours, or its younger sister, Ayala. Excellent champagne, especially their non-dosage Rose Mmm!

Try this site for ideas: http://www.maisons-champagne.com/traduction/englis...

HTH

Bollinger will do tours, but you do need to ask quite ahead of time, and preferably in a group. We had a fantstic tour there, showing us the coopperage, (only one left in house), their special walled vineyard and tasting of magnums of vintage Bolly, not good when you're driving to another house tour.

Edited by Shar2 on Monday 15th September 13:16

[Triumph Coupe]

If you are there for four days you should be able to get a load of tours in. Some of the big houses do great tours. Taittinger was a fun one as were many of the others. Then once you have done a couple of larger houses (and had a tour in English so you understand how it is all done) go off and do the smaller independent houses. You can unearth some gems. You will find houses all round eppernay and reims and most are happy for you to knock on the door and show you around.

The tours generally only cost 10euros or so, so you might as well try as many as you can.

You'll have a great time. I've been once but plan on going again.

[TimCrighton]

The Moet tour is worth doing, purely for scale - their cellars store 60m bottles!

Comtess Lafond (opposite Mercier in Epernay) is worth doing as well - fantastic chateau and very generous tasting for 7 euros (3 glasses!). Champagne is good too, having been previously owned by Mercier it shows interesting potential and they are spending a good deal to improve it.

Depending on your taste buds get yourselves immersed in the region of your fancy! If you like predominantly chardonnay based champagnes (like me!) then head over to Avize, Oger etc. and try some of the smaller houses, particularly their blanc de blanc (100% chardonnay). Pierson Whitaker is very good in Avize (tours need to be arranged in advance), its run by a lovely anglo-french couple (Imogen and Didier) and hence explain it in great english!

Nicholas Feuillatte is worth looking at purely to contrast their very modern production facilities with that of a traditional 'house'

Have a great time - its a fab part of france! Don't forget to stop at the GP circuit near Reims!

Edited by TimCrighton on Monday 15th September 19:05

[Stamp]

This is really good, thanks guys. There is very little "real tales" on the net to give guidance.

[Shar2]

TimCrighton said:

Comtess Lafond (opposite Mercier in Epernay) is worth doing as well - fantastic chateau and very generous tasting for 7 euros (3 glasses!). Champagne is good too, having been previously owned by Mercier it shows interesting potential and they are spending a good deal to improve it.

We stayed in a hotel just up the road from Comtess LaFond and Mercier. I found the mercier tour very informative and as it was the first tour of our trip, quite illuminating.

[Piglet]

We did the Mercier tour a few years ago. It was a bit "Disney" but was good.

We buy our champagne from Ariston Fils http://www.champagneaspasie.com/ (maybe a change of name as the website is different?). Very good value and lovely people.

[Stamp]

Piglet said:

We did the Mercier tour a few years ago. It was a bit "Disney" but was good.

We buy our champagne from Ariston Fils http://www.champagneaspasie.com/ (maybe a change of name as the website is different?). Very good value and lovely people.

I tried and tried to book in to stay there, but they were so vague and in the end I gave up.
We will call in though and try this wonderful fizz you tell me about!!!

[Piglet]

Stamp said:

Piglet said:

We did the Mercier tour a few years ago. It was a bit "Disney" but was good.

We buy our champagne from Ariston Fils http://www.champagneaspasie.com/ (maybe a change of name as the website is different?). Very good value and lovely people.

I tried and tried to book in to stay there, but they were so vague and in the end I gave up.
We will call in though and try this wonderful fizz you tell me about!!!

Hi Stamp, sorry you had trouble getting hold of them, we've only ever visited on the way past. We're trying to plan a trip to stay there but haven't had enough time. Do drop in and try the fizz though, it's very nice and cheap enough to be very drinkable!

[Shar2]

Piglet said:

We did the Mercier tour a few years ago. It was a bit "Disney" but was good.

I know what you mean, but it was good at easing our group into Champagne learning mode.