Epernay France
Frequently Asked Questions
At the river landing on the Marne, among the plane trees, a few minutes' walk from the first gates of the avenue de Champagne. Few calls live up so well to a nickname like capital of Champagne.
Yes, entirely. The avenue de Champagne runs one kilometre and is best taken slowly, gate by gate. The cellars, the centre and the tethered balloon are all reachable on foot from the mooring.
A cellar tour with tasting — that is the heart of the day — then the avenue de Champagne on foot. Add the tethered balloon if the weather allows. Two houses in one call is too much.
A one-kilometre avenue lined with mansions, ornate gates and classical facades. Behind each gateway sits a name that carries: Moët & Chandon, Mercier, De Castellane. The cellars running beneath the roadway hold millions of bottles in ageing.
About thirty metres underground, cut into the chalk. The town sits on a honeycomb where the temperature stays constant year-round. At Moët & Chandon the galleries run twenty-eight kilometres, the largest in the Champagne vineyard.
Yes, a sweater: the chill of the galleries always surprises after the heat outside. You descend with a guide, through dim light where bottles line up in tens of thousands, before coming back up for the tasting.
It is strongly advised. Booking before the call secures your place: slots go quickly in high season, and a call spent waiting for one is quickly frustrating.
A balloon that rises 150 metres above the town, right beside the cellars. From up there the eye takes in the vine-covered slopes, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Flights depend on the weather: in strong wind they do not run.
Spring gives the slopes a tender green, the September harvest a deep gold — that is the photograph everyone brings home. Summer is peak season, with cellars in heavy demand.
The euro, cards accepted at the Champagne houses and in shops. French is spoken; the great houses host international visitors and run guided tours in English.
