Champagne is around four hours' drive from Utrecht, with Reims and Épernay at its centre. You can visit the big houses on the Avenue de Champagne, but the most fun are the small winemakers who grow their own grapes: the growers, or vignerons. You taste their Champagne in the wine bars of Reims and Épernay, or at the winemaker's home.
The region in brief
There are three main areas. On the Montagne de Reims, between Reims and Épernay, mostly Pinot Noir grows, giving Champagne with body. In the Côte des Blancs, south of Épernay, it is almost all Chardonnay, for taut, fresh Blanc de Blancs. In the Vallée de la Marne, west of Épernay, there is a lot of Meunier, which gives fruity Champagne. Of the more than 300 wine villages, only 17 have grand cru status, such as Aÿ, Ambonnay, Cramant, Avize and Chouilly.
Épernay
On the Avenue de Champagne, between the big houses, #Brut pours only grower Champagne. A few minutes' walk away is L'Atypique, a Champagne bar in an inner garden, with live music. At Le 520 you can choose from 650 cuvées from more than 180 houses and vignerons. Every Saturday morning there is a free tasting with a winemaker.
To eat, book early at La Cave à Champagne, a family bistro with plenty of grower Champagne on the list. Ask for a table in the main room. L'Oben is small, with room for 26 guests, and is often full of locals. Sacré Bistro pairs burgers with Champagne, as a stop between two cellar visits.
Reims
In Reims the Champagne bars are close together in the centre. Le Coq Rouge is small and always busy, with wines and Champagnes the team picks from the makers themselves. Le Wine Bar by Le Vintage on the Place du Forum has more than 500 wines and 200 Champagnes. Next door, Aude Henon opened La Vertu in 2025, with only Champagne and wine from small producers. Le Clos is tucked away in an inner garden by the market hall, with a large terrace in summer.
At the foot of the cathedral, Cave du 13OR has a Champagne bar and a shop with 200 Champagnes. At Les Caves du Forum you walk down a stone staircase to three 16th-century cellars, nine metres underground.
Visiting the growers
In the Côte des Blancs, Diebolt-Vallois in Cramant makes Blanc de Blancs from vines planted in 1950. In Chouilly, Cyrill Banchet makes Chardonnay on grand cru chalk. In Avize, at Le Recommandé, you can choose from more than 400 Champagnes from small growers of the Côte des Blancs, in the village where they are made.
On the Montagne de Reims, Gatinois in Aÿ makes only grand cru, 90% Pinot Noir, around 50,000 bottles a year. Egly-Ouriet in Ambonnay ages its Champagne for three to four years, much longer than most makers. Champagne Gardet in Chigny-les-Roses is a small house with several tastings. Roger Coulon in Vrigny works organically, without filtration, with the eighth and ninth generations.
In Hautvillers, the village of Dom Pérignon, G. Tribaut welcomes visitors without complicated appointments. You eat there at Le Beau Lieu, where you pay the shop price for a bottle plus a small corkage fee. In the Vallée de la Marne are Bochet-Lemoine in Cormoyeux and Le Bateau Lavoir in Damery, on the Marne, a good lunch spot on a bike ride.
Tip
At most small houses you need to book ahead. Plan no more than two or three a day, and in the wine bars of Reims and Épernay drink the Champagnes of makers you can't visit. All addresses are also in the Champagne guide.
