Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The Champagne region of France has quite a sparkle!

Post Thumbnail

A tour of the Champagne region is educational, tasty and bubblylicious!

It was 11.45am and I was on my third champagne. But before you have me down as a raging alkie with expensive tastes, I assure you it was all in the name of research.

And they were small sampling tasters, not full glasses (although I admit I couldn’t bring myself to do the traditional spitting out.)

I was in pernay, the home of champagne and a beautiful town of graceful streets and centuries-old mansions.

I was with a handful of wine journalists from five countries (yes, they all spat) and we had three days to explore the delights of this wonderful area and to learn more about my fave drink.

Most Champagne houses have public tours costing on average 15 euros.

Each offers something different Castellane has a museum of winemaking instruments, Mercier a giant oak barrel, Moet Chandon is perhaps the most elegant and all show you how Champagne is made.

After 45 minutes in the chalk-walled cellars where the wine is stored, you emerge to sample a glass or three.

You can also pick up a bottle at the end, though the best bargains are to be found at the small Champagne makers in the hills beyond.

There are more 15,000 growers in the region and 81,600 acres of vines which produces 305 million bottles a year in 250km of cellars.

We Brits are still the biggest foreign consumers by a long way, and the brand is strictly controlled and only if the sparkling wine has been grown within the region of Champagne can it be called such.

The appellation is guarded by the Comite de Champagne who regularly sue people who flaunt it, including the manufacturers of ‘Champ Pagne’ mineral water for cats and dogs, sold in Harrods!

There are dozens and dozens of champagne houses, but I’d recommend the following.

Mot & Chandon (moet.com), Mercier (champagnemercier.fr), De Castellane (castellane.com), Nicolas Feuillatte (nicolas-feuillatte.com) and De Telmont, Damery (champagne-de-telmont.com).

For a small family-run producer in the fabulous village of Hautvillers, Champagne G Tribaut (champagne.g.tribaut.com) where Valrie Tribaut speaks fluent English.

While in this beautiful part of France 1 hour 15 mins from Paris by train we stayed in the beautiful 5-star Relais & Chateaux Hotel, The Royal Champagne, (royalchampagne.com) reached by driving 15 minutes out of Epernay, through the aptly-named village of Dizy!

If you want a way more affordable suggestion, I can recommend the following guest house in Hautvillers.

The proprietors also own a couple of hectares of vines and are part of the co-operative Nicolas Feuillatte.

A glass of champagne is always offered to guests and a visit to Nicolas Feuillatte is free for people staying at the guest house.

It’s called La Chevalee and is at 53 rue Henri Martin. See champagne-fedyk-chambres-hotes-hautvillers.com.

This being France, there are countless really good restaurants in the area.

I particularly enjoyed our set meal for under 20 euros in Le Theatre restaurant, 8 Place Mends France, and La Cave a Champagne, 16 rue Lon Gambetta. Hautvillers is a little gem of a hilltop village.

The abbey Saint Peter of Hautvillers was established back in 650. It’s where the famous monk Dom Perignon started modern winemaking practices and the Monk lies buried in the abbey here.

As you stroll the narrow streets these days you’ll see their tradition of wrought iron house signs.

Historically used to illustrate what the occupants did for a living, there are more than 140 of these attractive artefacts.

Additional links

Marne Tourist Board tourisme-en-champagne.com.

Regional Tourist Board champagne-ardenne-tourism.co.uk.

For facts and figures about champagne, the best source of info is the ‘stats’ section of the Comit Champagne’s web site at champagne.fr/en/champagne-economy/key-market-statistics.

Air France offer a regular direct service from Edinburgh to Paris Charles de Gaulle from just £150 return including tax and charges. For more information or to book, visit airfrance.co.uk.