Champagne wine travel guide

In Cormoyeux, a village of barely 200 inhabitants in a side valley of the Marne, five minutes from Hautvillers, the Bochet-Lemoine family has made champagne with a deep connection to the terroir for g…

An authentic Champagne house where all the Champagne is aged in wooden barrels. It's about 17 km from Épernay. Booking a tasting through the website is easy, and it makes a nice change from the establ…

For connoisseurs, the name Egly-Ouriet rings a bell. Eater called it "the wine-geekiest grower Champagne of all." Francis Egly is the fourth generation, but it's his radical approach that made the dom…

A very charming Champagne house, if not the most charming. Located between Reims and Épernay. If you're visiting Champagne, this is one of those original houses to visit. There are several tasting opt…

On the Avenue de Champagne, the most famous champagne avenue in the world, stands a house that is deliberately different from its big neighbours. No mass production, no tours of a hundred people at a …

Of the more than 300 wine-producing villages in Champagne, only 17 hold Grand Cru status, and Chouilly, a small village in the Côte des Blancs south of Épernay, is one of them. Champagne Cyrill Banche…

One of the better Blanc de Blancs we've tasted ourselves. Prices are a bit higher here than at the surrounding grower Champagnes, but in this case it's definitely worth it. Looking for the best Blanc …

Hautvillers: the picturesque Premier Cru village on a hill above Épernay, world-famous as the place where the monk Dom Pérignon worked and is buried, in the abbey of Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers. The ho…

Perhaps the best-kept secret of Aÿ Grand Cru. The family has been rooted in Aÿ since the early 18th century. 7 hectares, exclusively Grand Cru Aÿ. Pinot Noir dominates (about 90%), with a small fracti…

The story of Pernet-Lebrun began back in 1850 in Mancy, five kilometres south of Épernay on the Côteaux Sud: a quiet, authentic winegrowing village far from the bustle of the big houses. For five gene…

The Coulon family's winegrowing began in 1806 in Vrigny, a Premier Cru village in the north-west corner of the Montagne de Reims. Now the 8th and 9th generations, Eric, Isabelle, daughter Louise and s…

Château de Sacy is a nineteenth-century manor house on a hill in the middle of the vineyards of the Montagne de Reims, about 20 minutes from Reims. From the terrace and the rooms you look straight out…

This is my favourite restaurant in Épernay. Make sure you book in time, and ask to sit in the main room; there's an extra room too, but it's much less cosy. A family bistro in the heart of Épernay, cl…

In Reims's former 1926 fire station, an Art Deco monument directly opposite Notre-Dame cathedral, La Grande Georgette opened as the restaurant of La Caserne Chanzy Hotel & Spa. The name refers to a 19…

On the banks of the Marne in the charming village of Damery, 7 km from Épernay and 20 km from Reims, lies Au Bateau Lavoir. The restaurant owes its name to the laundry boat that used to be moored outs…

A short menu, but set against it an encyclopaedia of wine choices. The list focuses on local champagne producers and local winegrowers, supplemented with French wines from outside the region. You can …

High on a hill above Champillon, halfway between Reims and Épernay, stands the Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, a former coaching inn where Napoleon once stopped. Today it's a five-star hotel with two res…

The kitchen revolves around fish and seafood: marinated oysters and scallops with cucumber granita, roast monkfish with Paimpol beans and sage siphon, blue lobster with mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes a…

L'Oben is the brainchild of Loïc and Benjamin, whose names were combined to form the name of the restaurant. Small, intimate and always full: the regulars are mostly locals, which tells you straight a…

Burgers and champagne, and surprisingly good too. Sacré Bistro proves that champagne isn't only meant for white tablecloths. A restaurant and bar in Épernay where you can enjoy burgers, wines from art…

At number 25 on the Avenue de Champagne, the most famous wine avenue in the world, lined with the palaces of Moët & Chandon, Perrier-Jouët and Pol Roger, stands a small, headstrong wine bar that delib…

This is not a wine bar in the classic sense: it's the terrace of Veuve Clicquot itself, right on the estate on the edge of Reims, and the only permanent Café Clicquot in the world. Opened in 2023 on t…

At the foot of Reims cathedral, in the former 12th-century Trésorier building, one of the oldest buildings in the city, Le 13OR opened as a crossroads of two worlds: champagne artisans and Champagne a…

In early 2025, oenologist and former sommelier Aude Henon opened her own bar à vins in the lively Boulingrin district of Reims, right next to Le Wine Bar by Le Vintage, where she used to work. Star Wi…

A champagne bar as atypical as its name promises. In the centre of Épernay, a few minutes' walk from the Avenue de Champagne, L'Atypique opened in a unique space: a 150 m² inner garden that feels like…

Hidden in a courtyard garden on the Rue du Temple, right next to the covered market hall of Reims, Le Clos is a secret the locals would love to keep to themselves. Founded in 2013 and now a household …

Founded in 2012 by sommelier Baptiste Huttois in the heart of Reims, within walking distance of the cathedral. There are now three locations, two in Reims and one in Paris, with the same philosophy an…

More than 400 champagnes on the list, exclusively from small growers from Avize and the Côte des Blancs, including rare bottles from Selosse, Diebolt-Vallois and other top producers that you taste her…

On the Place du Forum, in the heart of the historic centre of Reims: the most strategic wine bar location in the city. In 2026 it won the award for the best sparkling wine list in all of France. More …

Every Saturday morning from 10.30 to 13.00, Le 520 holds a free tasting: a vigneron or a representative of a big house personally presents their champagnes. A perfect way to discover new producers and…

The reference address for wine in Reims, named Cave de l'Année 2013 and Caviste de l'Année 2017 by the Revue du Vin de France. Owner Fabrice and his team run the business out of an intrinsic love of w…

Stay at a winery in Champagne, Burgundy, the Rhône, Provence, Alsace, the Loire or Bordeaux: wine hotels, guest rooms and gîtes in France.

Small Champagne houses, Champagne bars with hundreds of growers and where to eat: how to plan a wine trip through Champagne.