We will be in France some this summer. We want to spend one day going by train from Paris to Reims (don’t feel bad for me, this is in addition to time in Burgundy) to visit the city. I have never been to any part of Champagne before, although I have been to multiple other wine regions in France (Burgundy (numerous times), Bordeaux, Alsace and Bandol). I would like to go to one big Champagne house to tour and taste and really just see the underground cellars. My current thoughts are either Taittinger or Ruinart, although I am open to other ideas (much be walking or cab distance from the train station). Any ideas for lunch or things to see the rest of the day? Any recommended tasting rooms to try various other wines?
I’ve said this multiple times, but Les Crayeres for lunch was a peak dining experience, and their list (hundreds of champagnes) will gob-smack. We were planning to do a tour after lunch but stayed and drank more champagne instead, then spent the rest of the afternoon, pleasantly buzzed, at the magnificent and historically important cathedral. Also went to Caves du Forum on the recommendation of the somm @ Caryeres and brought some stuff home that I’ve never seen here.
Ruinart. Period.
Their caves are magnificent and date back to the Roman era. And their Champagnes rock too. Also, les Crayeres and the Cathedral which is stunning, especially the Chagall stained windows in the back (though the structure itself is amazing).
My only quibble is that I prefer Brasserie Le Jardin for lunch and the big house (Les Crayeres) for dinner. Great place to stay, too.
He’s only going for the day
Take a late train back to Paris.
Did this same day trip on a Paris/Burgundy trip. We took the earliest train and scheduled a morning tasting at Moet in Epernay. Uneventful but we got stuck in the rain and wandered into this GEM of a wine shop/bar called C Comme - https://www.c-comme.fr. Tons of grower bubbles I’d never heard of that were very reasonable. We could taste through just about anything so the experience was top notch. I walked away with a case of good grower bubbles for about 20E/bottle on average.
We then went to Reims. I’d echo the Ruinart rec - they were closed for renovations when we were there unfortunately, but I’ve heard it’s incredible. Don’t forget to visit the cathedral as well. It will blow you away. We did the tour and tasting at Taittinger which was enjoyable but nothing remarkable except for the underground caves dating back to Roman times.
Enjoy!
A big +1 on Ruinart. I was told to go there JUST to see the caves over all others, but when Brad Baker arranged a private tasting for us with his friend, the winemaker, it was the complete deal.
I also agree on les Crayeres [reserve well in advance] and the Cathedral. Enjoy, Howard.
Ruinart is a must, I also enjoyed Taittinger but that was more due to the glasses of Comtes de Champagne. Our favorite tasting experience was at Champagne J. De Telmont but that was quite a ways out of the city and may be difficult. We ended up tasting a 1998, 2000 and 2002. We did the Instant Prestige tasting which was amazing.
Can’t add much to the great advice already provided on visits, Crayeres and Cathedral. That’s pretty much all you need…
We were just there. Also visited Ruinart and Taittinger. I would actually skip Taittinger if not for the historic caves. That part was quite interesting to see. The Comtes did not compare the Ruinart we had in the morning.
Ruinart, for sure
learn how to say “Reims,” very surprising how it is pronounced. We will be there a night in June also—Dom and Ployez-Jacquemart are our visits.
Saul_XBJaLA
Thanks everyone for the suggestions.
This is accurate, but it has always just grated on me. French is such a beautiful language. This is not. Sounds like a German trying to clear his sinuses.
I just spent a couple of days in Reims. FWIW Crayeres was a big disappointment. The setting is great and the food was enjoyable; a bit old fashioned, but I expected that. The service was awful. Probably the worst I’ve had at any starred restaurant in France in dozens of visits. There’s a massive team but nobody seemed to know what their job was, so there was never any coordination. Empty wine glasses at multiple points, and dinner was mind-numbingly slow (two gaps of over 45 minutes between courses). When my wife commented on it, rather than acknowledge the response was “but you ordered the soufflé.” Of course, we ordered it before the meal and, as part of the set menu, it was also ordered by nearly every other table. I’m not sure what their excuse was taking nearly an hour to bring the cheese cart over, and maybe 20-25 minutes after they acknowledged that it was on its way.
The wine list is still broad in Champagne, and there are still a few modest deals, but it doesn’t have the breadth of older gems that I understand used to be there. Any dress code they may have had is also gone. Plenty of jeans, and at least one hoodie and one golf shirt (yes I know, no one really enforces this anymore. I saw a sweatshirt at Taillevent recently). I could go on with more examples but hope the point is made. YMMV, but I spoke with a couple of other people after the fact and understand that my experience wasn’t unique.
I preferred L’Assiette Champenoise in nearly every respect: ambition, every facet of execution, and even the setting (though that’s more personal preference). The wine list has more breadth (in Champagne and elsewhere), and a number of deals by U.S. standards, but it’s also generally younger.
Adding a reference link to FMIII epic champagne blog from wine talk. Lots of good information on many houses.
lovely visit at Ployez-Jacquemart. They make 100,000 bottles/yr. Super wines.