Épernay
The self-styled capital of Champagne, where the grande maisons' chalk cellars line the storied Avenue de Champagne.
About Épernay
Épernay sits on the south bank of the Marne at the heart of the Champagne region, a compact town whose fame vastly outsizes its roughly 22,000 residents. Its Avenue de Champagne is one of wine's great streets: beneath its mansions run miles of Gallo-Roman chalk cellars where the region's sparkling wine ages in cool darkness. The great houses — Moët & Chandon, Mercier, Perrier-Jouët, Pol Roger and others — cluster here, offering cellar tours that trace the traditional method from base wine to riddled, disgorged bottle. Just north, the abbey village of Hautvillers honors the monk Dom Pérignon. Épernay pairs its wine with a refined Champenois table and makes an easy base for touring the surrounding grand cru slopes of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Harvest and late spring are the most atmospheric times to visit.
Practical details
Wine tourism notes
Épernay bills itself as the capital of Champagne. The Avenue de Champagne runs above roughly 110 km of chalk cellars holding hundreds of millions of bottles; the grandes maisons offer guided cave tours and tastings, and the hillside village of Hautvillers, where Dom Pérignon was cellarer, sits a short drive north.
Regional cuisine
Champenois cooking built around the sparkling table: oysters and shellfish, potée champenoise, andouillette, jambon de Reims, brie de Meaux and chaource cheeses, and biscuits roses de Reims dipped in a coupe.
Canonical attractions
- Avenue de Champagne
- Moët & Chandon cellars
- Mercier and Pol Roger houses
- Château Perrier / Musée du Vin de Champagne
- Hautvillers abbey nearby (Dom Pérignon)
Editorial notes
Book grande-maison cellar tours ahead in peak season; the Avenue de Champagne is walkable, but a car helps for reaching Hautvillers and the grand cru villages.