Champagne Region

Champagne, the only region whose sparkling wine may bear the name, is a UNESCO cultural landscape of vineyards, grand houses and deep chalk cellars around Reims and Epernay, east of Paris. Here the great Champagne houses age millions of bottles in kilometres of tunnels cut into the chalk, and cellar tours end, of course, with a tasting of the celebrated fizz.

History

Under the Carolingians the region prospered, with Charlemagne encouraging vine planting and his son Louis the Pious crowned at Reims, a tradition of coronations that helped the reputation of its wines; the Counts of Champagne ruled it as an independent county from 950 to 1316. Pope Urban II, a native of Champagne, declared the wine of Aÿ the best in the world, Pope Leo X, Francis I, Charles V and Henry VIII all owned vineyards here, and a batch of Aÿ wine received in 1518 by Cardinal Wolsey is the first recorded export of Champagne wine to England. Long a crossroads ravaged by war, from the defeat of Attila near Châlons in 451 to the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion, the region saw enough peace for sparkling wine to advance only from the 1660s, under Louis XIV (Wikipedia, Champagne wine region).

Highlights

• The Champagne houses - the grand maisons of Reims and Epernay and their cellar tours.
• The chalk cellars - the kilometres of tunnels where the wine ages.
• The Avenue de Champagne - Epernay's street of great Champagne houses.
• Reims Cathedral - the great Gothic coronation cathedral in the region's capital.

When to go

Late spring to autumn for the vineyards and tours; September for the harvest. The cellar tours are a year-round pleasure, and Reims is an easy day trip from Paris.

Practical notes

The grand-house cellar tours are ticketed and can be pricey, though they end with a tasting; smaller growers offer a more personal experience. It is an easy trip from Paris. The vineyards are pretty but gentle rather than dramatic.

Nearby

Reims Cathedral is in the regional capital; Paris is forty-five minutes by fast train.