Wine Travel Guide: Champagne
In this article:
Places to Eat in the Champagne Region
Aux Crieurs de Vins
"This wine shop and wine bar is in the town of Troyes. It's one of those exciting spots where you wonder, How do they have all of these wines just sitting on the shelf? It's all the best Champagnes, like Vouette et Sorbée and Jacques Selosse. You can buy a bottle to go or pay a $5 corkage fee to drink it there with lunch or dinner. I get big salads and ham and drink Champagne."
C Comme
"This is one of the only wine bars in Épernay. You go downstairs and pick out a bottle to drink with small plates, like foie gras with toast, or you can buy the wine to take with you. I was like a kid in a candy store. There were amazing deals there, and really good bottles, like Demière Ansiot, that cost only $25. It even has Champagne for $19! You'd never be able to find a bottle of Champagne for that in New York."
Places to Stay in the Champagne Region
« Les Crayères
"If money were no object, I'd stay at Les Crayères in Reims. It has only 20 rooms and a garden that feels like another world. Plus, its restaurant has about 300 Champagnes."
Places to Visit in the Champagne Region
Driving Tour
"I recommend just driving through all the major villages to see the differences in them—Cramant, Bouzy, Ambonnay. Then, the bigger houses like Ruinart and Roederer are very visitor-friendly. And Pol Roger has a good tour through its gorgeous cave, which has an incredible lighting system."
Les Délices Champenoises
"Les Délices Champenoises in Reims gives great recommendations. I found Paul Clouet, a producer from Bouzy, there."
Great Champagne Region Bottles
"I'm obsessed with Bérèche et Fils. It is nutty, custardy, rich—it's a dinner Champagne. I also think Laherte Frères, where I worked, makes great cuvées. They grow all seven Champagne grapes—the three major ones and the four 'forgotten' ones."
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