We spent 2 days in the Champagne Region of France, a day in Reims and a day in Epernay. What an absolutely fantastic area this is! I could easily come back and spend a week! I would love to take my time and explore so much more of this delightful area! But, if you’re short on time and want to enjoy as much as possible, like we were, here are some of the champagne houses that were highlights for me!
If you want a detailed itinerary for how exactly we spent 2 full days in this region (including food and other activities not champagne focused) then I have a blog post for that too! Click here! This explains how to spend a weekend in Champagne without having to book a guided tour.
These houses are listed in no particular order, just the order I recalled each of them!
Champagne Pommery: Reims
My absolute favorite thing about this champagne house was learning about the woman who ran it. I live for learning about incredible women in history who did amazing things and Madam Pommery is one of those women. When her husband passed away she decided to take on the business herself. Her innovative ideas and creative business plan quickly elevated Champagne Pommery.
She decided to make a champagne that was less sweet, and bring it to a market that was looking for precisley that. She started by bringing it to England and did very well very quickly. She proceeded to build, learn, and grow, and conquer markets all over the world.
When you walk through her galleries you can see that each area of her cellars is named after markets in which she reached and conquered with her champagne. She purchased her land in Reims made of limestone and chalk pits under the ground and this allowed her to store and age bottles in a temperature controlled environment.
The champagne house of Pommery in Reims is STUNNING. It looks like a fairytale. Art installations rotate throughout the cellars so that when you tour you’re getting a history lesson about the champagne as well as some lovely art. This is one place I would truly advise you not to skip in the Champagne Region.
Practical Information: You can book online to visit but we had no trouble walking right in and asking for a self guided tour and tasting. There are various options here and if you wanted an in depth tour and tasting I’d make sure to book that in advance. You can walk to Pommery from the center of Reims (about 45 mins) or take a short ride. It is only about a 10 minute walk from Ruinart so they are nice to do back to back.
Cost of an average bottle: Bottles can range from 45-60 on the low end and go well in to the hundreds on the high end.
Website Link: https://www.champagnepommery.com/home
Champagne Ruinart: Reims
You’ve probably heard of Champagne Ruinart if you’re interested in Champagne, and maybe even if you aren’t. In my non-expert opinion, I think the taste of this champagne is just phenomenal. Ruinart is so beautiful and the grounds are so well kept. I highly recommend looking before your visit to see if they have any events going on. It seems they are always popping up with new and inventive ways to enjoy Ruinart. We were lucky enough to visit when they were running their special brunch. It is truly an amazing deal, you get a full brunch and a tasting of two champagnes. You have the option to add more tastings (which I would surely do if we were to return). We thought the brunch was perfection and we were so glad we had this option while visiting. We felt fancy for a day! Another thing that I loved about Ruinart is that it wasn’t pretentious. I was worried that we’d be under dressed or that they’d look at us like we didn’t know what we were doing (because we didn’t). But everyone was absolutely so kind, wonderful, and welcoming. We really found it to be a dream experience.
Practical Information: There are so many options here for tours and tastings. You can simply taste, you can tour the cellars and taste, you can look into their many impressive experiences. This one will be a bit more costly but SO worth it. You should 100% make a reservation for any of the things you choose to do here. You can walk to Ruinart from the center of Reims (45 mins) or take a short ride. We quite enjoyed the walk. It is also a 10 minute walk from Pommery making them easy to do back to back.
Cost of an Average Bottle: An average bottle starts around 90 USD and bottles go WELL into the hundreds, even thousands.
Website Link: https://www.ruinart.com/en-us/homepage.html
Champagne GH Martel: Reims
We actually found this house by accident. We walked from the center of Reims to Pommery and Ruinart and we stumbled upon this spot on our walk back. It was so charming and we had a perfect weather day so we sat in the courtyard for our tasting. We tried a few different types and really enjoyed sitting outside. This place is also very convenient as you can walk here in just a few minutes from the center of Reims. We have found throughout our experience in France that is is often the “lesser known” (to us Americans) types of champagnes that we enjoy the most, and this was no exception. We found all of the champagnes we tried here to be really delightful!
Practical Information: This champagne house is in Reims making it very easy to walk to from the center of town. We were lucky to walk up and get a tasting, but if you’re very interested definitely make a reservation. If the weather is nice they have a wonderful courtyard you can sit in to do your tasting.
Cost of an Average bottle: An average bottle can start around 30 USD
Website Link: https://champagnemartel.com/en/homepage
Champagne Paul-Etienne Saint Germain: Epernay
This was my favorite surprise of our trip. If you take the train into Epernay and walk down the avenue of champagne you have to walk a bit to reach this spot, but it is WORTH IT! We showed up unannounced and did a tasting of 3 champagnes. We loved learning more about the family and their champagne making history. We LOVED this champagne so much I have tried to find it in the US. If you live in Florida… lucky you, you can find it there! The house itself is an absolute stunner and we loved sitting out in the sunshine and enjoying this champagne. The personal experience here was wonderful and I think this was truly my favorite champagne I’ve had in the world so far!
Practical Information: This house is near the end of the Avenue of Champagne but don’t miss it! You could schedule a tasting to be safe.
Cost of an Average Bottle: Bottles start around 50-60 USD
Website Link: https://www.pauletiennesaintgermain.fr/en/home-champagne-paul-etienne-saint-germain/
Castellane: Epernay
We wandered right into Champagne Castellane and were able to do a tour and tasting. We really enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about the process and the cellars. This spot is also a very easy walk from the train station so if you are coming into town by train it can be a great place to start or end your champagne journey. You can’t miss this spot with it’s iconic tower. We were unable to go up into the tower on our visit, but I read it has excellent views over the area.
Practical Information: We had no trouble walking in for a tour and tasting without an appointment, but if you’re very interested in this one I would reserve in advance.
Cost of a Bottle: An average bottle can start at 30 USD
Website Link: https://www.castellane.com/en/
Champagne G Tribaut
This champagne house was in Hautvillers which is the charming village that holds the grave of Dom Perignon. We rode e-bikes out to this town and it was so beautiful to ride all throughout the vineyards. We tasted a flight of champagne here and we loved this spot for the view. It is located on a hill overlooking vineyards as far as you can see and it is so incredibly beautiful. It’s exactly the kind of place you picture yourself relaxing and sipping champagne in France. I highly recommend heading to Hautvillers for this experience!
Practical Information: This is not in the town of Epernay so you have to get here. You could bike, or hire a car or taxi from Epernay. We were able to taste without a reservation, but as always, if you’re very interested I would make one!
Cost of a Bottle: Average bottle can start at 40 USD
Website: doesn’t seem to be in service at the moment
Places we’d hope to see next time
Tattinger: I made the mistake of thinking that we’d get lucky walking into champagne Tattinger and asking for a tasting. I hadn’t wanted to overbook our day, in case we weren’t in the mood. We got turned away for an impromptu visit but I would like to make an appointment and taste here in the future.
Veuve: This is obviously one of the most well known champagne houses (at least to those of us in the United States). When people celebrate around home they tend to buy this champagne. It would have been really neat to taste but we wanted to taste things we’ve never had before. If I returned though I would make time for it!
Moet & Chandon: I was thinking the same thing here that I was about Veuve (I can get this at home). But this brand is just so absolutely classic and elegant and the house looked just stunningly flawless, I would definitely visit next time.
Champagne houses in Reims | Champagne Houses in Epernay | Champagne houses you should Visit | Champagne in France | Visiting the Champagne Region | Best champagne houses