The Wine Taster Posted April 21, 2005 Share Posted April 21, 2005 I am visiting Epernay for a long weekend at the end of May. We would welcome any top tips of things and places to visit. Our main interest is the wine and I previously lived near Saumur in the Loire for a year where I experienced many great wines and vinyards. Any good restaurants you might recommend would be good too. The more info I can gather the better. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 Wonderful place for a long weekend, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. In Epernay we always like visiting Mercier as the guided tour is very interesting and informative. They take you down into the subterranean caves where you take a little train past thousands upon thousands of bottles. Tour ends with tasting. We've only ever been off season (mid winter) but you may possibly need to book, worth checking.But do also go on to Rheims not just for more bubbly but also the magnificent cathedral. Don't know where you're staying but there are some beautiful, though sometimes pricey, places in the city. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cacknanty Posted April 22, 2005 Share Posted April 22, 2005 I concur with MWJ, Mercier is well worth a visit. Moet et Chandon is quite an upmarket visit and contrasts well with the Mercier tour. They are fairly close to one another. Castellane, to us is the most 'down to earth' visit and has a butterfly house (costs extra).We have also visited Taittinger and Veuve Cliquot in Rheims, we found Vve Cliquot to have been the most friendly and helpfull of all champagne and vineyards we have vistied (and we have visited quite a few!!!). We were given a full size book, 4 mini books and the children got a set of caps for each champagne they produced. Couldn't help but buy some of the produce.'Factory gate' prices seemed to be similar to supermarket prices and about 2/3 the price of UK.Oh yes, the cathedral is quite impressive as well.cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annie1 Posted April 23, 2005 Share Posted April 23, 2005 : Do not forget to visit some of the private smaller "caves". Their champagne is just as good as the well known names, and is a little cheaper. The families who run these smaller business are happy to discuss their processes and techniques with you and also offer free tastings. Enjoy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cacknanty Posted April 25, 2005 Share Posted April 25, 2005 Checkout http://www.v1ne.com/champagne_houses.html for contact details.It's got some good hangover 'cures' as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now