“I drink Champagne when I win, to celebrate…and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself.” ― Napoleon Bonaparte
Reims
The train from Paris to Reims is quiet but efficient. The rolling hills that creep in after exiting Paris with blossoming yellow fields of rapeseed flowers are nearly endless. The station is small, a short walk from the handful of bays leads directly into the outdoors. The city is very suburban but still contains smedium-ish skyscrapers but nothing too grandiose.
This was my first time using Turo and I highly recommend it. They delivered our tiny Toyota and after some initial pics we were on our way to our hotel hidden away in the hills of Sacy, 20 minutes outside the city.
Chateau Sacy was every bit as advertised when I found it online originally. Surrounded by rolling vineyard hills and nestled above a sleepy village. A remodeled wine house with the original charm still intact. You could tell it originally wasn’t a hotel but they worked with the space they had. The staff were all attentive, could speak better English than myself, and assisted us with any request from aperitifs to sauna access.
Vueve Cliquot
Vueve Cliquot was our first stop, one of my favorites back stateside, and their wine house was a marketing executives dream. Their iconic Yellow is accented everywhere with historical references to their brands history. The tour and tasting was informative, fun, and engaging.
A short walk down the street will lead you to Basserie le Jardin. It’s the Domaine Les Crayères hotel restaurant in a beautiful somewhat-secluded park. Swanky without being overindulgent it was a fantastic lunch.
Reims City Center
There was plenty of time before our next tasting at Domaine Vranken Pommery, so we started walking towards the center of town. I have to give credit to Madi, I was not expecting us to traverse nearly 3 miles roundtrip on our side quest. While doing research for our trip I learned that there are actually two Notre Dames within France both equally beautiful and significant.
Domaine Vranken Pommery
We arrived at Domaine Vranken Pommery with very little left in the tank but walking upwards to the wine house I felt a second wind coming even while my legs were shaking. No, like literally, I had the shakes walking up out down every step of their cellars. We had very little time between our Paris leg where we walked for well over a dozen miles in a single day plus our jaunt between Reims’ cellars.
The vibe here was much more focused on artistry. Exhibits of different experimental art fixtures were littered about the property and the cellars. While beautiful and unique the ginormous chalk carved walls of several of the cellars stole the show. Majestic artwork detailing the mythology of wine making and revelry.
Its been nonstop cellar tours, eating, drinking, walking. Madi and I’s legs are completely shot. We make our way back to our tiny Toyota and drive back to Chateau Sacy where we have a Nordic bath overlooking the village and vineyards waiting for us.
Epernay/Champagne Avenue
While Reims contains a good majority of champagne houses Epernay is where you can find Champagne Avenue. There are nearly 300 champagne houses with tastings and cellars to tour. With an estimated 200 million bottles of champagne resting in the collective 110 kilometers of caves underground since the discovery of champagne around the 1600s.
First off, those statistics are bananas for a town that small. Second I had no clue that the French were originally trying to get rid of the bubbles thinking that they were a fault in their wine making process. That’s right, Dom Perignon was trying to get rid of the bubbles.
Moet & Chandon
While I may have said “Mo-ee Shan-den” from the SNL bit about a billion times this was by far the most professional and delicious house we visited the entire trip. Our tour guide was versed in multiple languages, answered all questions with expertise, and provided an entertaining tour. Famous for being Napoleon’s wine provider they offered a more hoity-toity brand, and they earned that ability. Seeing bottles resting in cellars that were bottled in 1835, caves where walls were sealed to fight against Nazis pillaging bottles was super cool. We enjoyed our tasting and stuck around their tasting house after our tour before our next one began. This is where I had a glass of Dom Perignon for the first time, a bottle typically out of my price range. But hey, when in Champagne land…. it is still expensive…. even by the glass but it was worth it since we were at least in a place where it was as fresh as it gets.
Comtesse Lafond
I am glad that Comtesse was our last tour because it lays near the end of champagne avenue. From Moet & Chandon we had to walk down the entire avenue and take in the sights of each house. Beautiful architecture and history. We arrived at the exact right time for our tasting, right as the group gathered around the bar for the first glass. This was exciting because I surprised Madi with a sabering experience. Meaning she would perform the sabering for the group. She performed as well as Napoleon. After leaving their homely cellar we got to wander around their grounds, tour their wine house, and enjoy more glasses on their patio area overlooking the valley.
If you’re considering visiting I would recommend visiting a little later than we did, April was when the vines were prepped for the new season. I can only imagine what a full vineyard with bright green leaves and grape varieties would look like in the Summer of Fall. Guess we’ll have to go back and see.
