For the serious business of Reims, head to place des
Droits-de-l'Homme and place St-Niçaise, near the Abbaye St-Remi. These
are both within striking distance of the majority of the Reims maisons , most of which charge an entrance fee for their tours but include a dégustation and have English guides. Only three can be visited without an appointment: the houses of Mumm, Taittinger and Piper-Heidsieck.
The best of the regular guided tours is Mumm
at 34 rue du Champ-de-Mars (March-Oct daily 9-11am & 2-5pm; Nov-Feb
Mon-Fri same hours, Sat & Sun afternoons only; tour takes 45min;
€3.81). Established in 1827, Mumm is familiar for its red-slashed
Cordon Rouge label - its un-French-sounding name is the legacy of its
founders, affluent German wine-makers from the RhineValley.
The tour is fairly informal - you can wander freely about its cellar
museum and throw questions at the approachable guides - though you pick
up the basics from a pre-tour video. There's not a lot of walking
despite 25km of cellars and a reported 35 million bottles of wine; some
of the vintage bottles date from 1911. It all ends with a generous
glass of either Cordon Rouge, the populist choice; the sweeter Cordon
Vert; or their Extra Dry. At Taittinger , 9 place St-Niçaise
(Mon-Fri 9.30am-noon & 2-4.30pm, Sat & Sun 9-11am & 2-5pm;
Dec-Feb Mon-Fri only; tour takes 1hr; €5.34), there are still more
ancient caves , with doodles and carvings added by more recent workers, and statues of St Vincent and St Jean, patron saints respectively of vignerons and cellar hands.
Although founded in 1785, Piper-Heidsieck
, at 51 bd Henry-Vasnier (March-Nov daily 9-11.45am & 2-5.15pm;
Dec-Feb closed Tues & Wed; €6.10), is better known in the New World
than the Old, having been the champagne of the American movie industry
since first appearing - with Laurel and Hardy - in the 1934 classic Sons of the Desert
. The champagne of the Oscars gives a fair whack of sponsorship for
film prizes and festivals too, and really the only folk who'll get
anything out of the tour - which ends up at a gallery of celebrity
snaps - are confirmed film buffs and lovers of tackiness: the antique caves
are toured by automatic five-seater car shuttle resembling a ghost
train. Out of the darkness and timed to a cliché-ridden narration loom
giant fibreglass grapes and vast hands armed with secateurs, or
life-size badly proportioned lumpy figures positioned as cellar
masters. You emerge to a glittering photo-studded foyer and a snooty
atmosphere and a much-needed drink.
Top of the list of appointment-only houses is the Maison Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin
, 1 place des Droits-de-l'Homme (tel 03.26.89.54.41; free). In the
early days of capitalism, the widowed Mme Clicquot not only took over
her husband's business, but later bequeathed it to her business manager
rather than to her children - both radical breaks with tradition. In
keeping with this past, the maison is one of the least pompous and its video the best. The caves , with their horror-movie fungi, are old Gallo-Roman quarries. The House of Pommery
, 5 place du Général-Gouraud (tel 03.26.61.62.55; €6.10), also has
excavated Roman quarries for its cellars; it claims - in a case of good
champagne oneupmanship - to have been the first to do so. Other
appointment-only maisons are Ruinart , 4 rue des Crayères (tel 03.26.77.51.51; €7.62-18.29, depending on number of tastings), Charles Heidsieck , 4 bd Henry-Vasnier (tel 03.26.84.43.50; €6.10-9.15), and Lanson , 12 bd Lundy (tel 03.26.78.50.50; €4.57).
Finally, to get an overview of the various champagnes available (plus wines from all over France), it's worth visiting La Vino Cave
, 43 place Drouet-d'Erlon (Mon 2.30-7.30pm, Tues-Sat 9.30am-1pm &
2.30-7.30pm), where you can also buy all the paraphernalia of the
bubbly business, from champagne flutes to snazzy servers.
Copyright Rough Guides Ltd as trustee for its authors. Published by Rough Guides.
All rights reserved.The Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd.
