Champagne Tasting Weekend Breaks
Introduction
Champagne
The very name is synonymous with celebration;
it is the wine of kings and the king of wines. Champagne-Ardenne is
a very special place for the connoisseur of fine wines. The region
abounds in lakes, forests, pretty floral villages and steep
hillsides covered in the precious vines. Underneath this chalk and
limestone, hundreds of miles of rock have been excavated to provide
underground galleries for the housing and maturing of the wine.
Reims, the city of kings and the gateway to
Champagne is less than 2 ½ hours drive from Calais and an ideal
location for a Grape Weekend. The city is home to no less than 3
UNESCO world heritage sites, including one of the finest gothic
cathedrals in northern Europe where 25 kings of France were
crowned.
The region is rich in possibilities, from cultural tours in the
city to walking and cycling among the vines. Alternatively, for a
truly unique experience, try abseiling 30 metres into the cellars
of a Champagne maker or learning to take the top off your Champagne
in exuberant style - with a Sabre.
The Wines
Champagne is the most famous of all sparkling
wines. Blended from base wines using up to three different grape
varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) and grown in
many different vineyards, the best Champagne houses use as many as
100 different base wines to ensure the consistency of their non
vintage Champagne each year. The blanc de blanc Champagnes (made
from 100% Chardonnay) are clean and elegant with great aging
potential, while the addition of Pinot Noir adds backbone, body and
structure and the Pinot Meunier adds floral overtones and
fruitiness.
The broadest range of short breaks to
Champagne
As the UK’s biggest specialist Champagne tour
operator, we are able to offer a wide variety of trips to the
region spanning 11 months of the year. On every weekend tour, you
can choose the type of accommodation that you wish to stay in and
add extra nights as desired. For those who wish to extend their
stay, our standard service includes providing you with
recommendations of additional Champagne houses that you may like to
visit and arranging these appointments if required.
Arrangements to suit you
The flexibility
offered isn’t limited to the tour dates, but also includes the
type of accommodation and travel method you prefer. Standard
tours are based on self drive to the Champagne region so you are
able to select a channel crossing time to suit yourself, however
alternative transport options are detailed elsewhere on this
leaflet. We can also create a broader wine tour into Chablis and
onwards to the heart of Burgundy if you would like a longer
break.
Champagne breaks
We carefully select a number of Champagne Houses of different sizes
who create wines in a variety of styles. We exercise the same care
in choosing the restaurants that we visit.
To ensure the quality of your Champagne break, we strictly limit
the number of guests on each tour. On average we limit our tours to
24 people. This has a number of benefits including; access to the
broadest range of Champagne Houses and restaurants, better service
and less wasted time; and a more social and intimate atmosphere on
the tour.
Grape Escape Champagne tour – what’s
included?
All our weekends are designed to give
customers a full insight into the Champagne making process. We
always include a visit to one of the prestigious houses based in
the centre of Reims or Epernay. The sight of millions of bottles of
Champagne maturing in the underground cellars is truly
breath-taking. Some of the cellars are within chalk Crayères which
were excavated by the Romans and others were purpose built over the
last 150 years. The visit to the prestigious house will include a
tour of the cellars and conclude with tastings of their
Champagnes.
Whilst the large houses show the majesty and
grandeur that can be found in Champagne making, there is nothing
better than meeting the maker and seeing the passion which he or
she puts into their art. We therefore focus our tours on visiting
the smaller houses where you can do just this. We include a visit
to a house that concentrates on the vineyards, where you will see
the vines in their varying states during the year and learn about
the soil and climatic influences on Champagne making. There will be
another small house where you will concentrates on the work in the
winery – looking at the presses, fermentation and disgorgement
process. One of these smaller houses will be a Grand Cru house
where the Champagne is produced using grapes from the very best
vineyard plots in the region.
For those who want to learn about Champagne
but like something more active, we are again running our adventure
tours where you will abseil 100ft into the Champagne cellars at a
medium house. You will then visit a smaller house where you will
start your visit by learning Sabrage (the art of opening the
Champagne bottle with a sword) before enjoying lunch accompanied by
all of the Champagnes that the group has opened. The visit will
conclude with a tour of the full Champagne making process at the
house.
As well as learning about the champagne making
process, all our tours include a local English speaking tour guide
who will give you information on the region, its specialities and
history.
For full details of what is included in each
package, please see the descriptions of the weekends
offered in the itinerary.
Quick links:
champagne tasting weekend breaks -
itinerary
champagne tasting weekend breaks -
factfile
champagne tasting weekend breaks - dates
and prices
champagne tasting weekend breaks - booking
enquiry
champagne tasting weekend breaks - before
you go
REF:Champagne Escapes Weekends - GE - (GE0001)
