J, in the past couple years my wife (or as I call her, “my ex-girlfriend”) and I have done a day trip to Champagne and a day-plus-a-little trip in southern and northern Rhone. Here’s a post I did about the Rhone stops from September of this year that may (or may not) be helpful: Chateauneuf du Pape and Hermitage - pit stops during my recent vacation
I would HIGHLY recommend going to the top of Hermitage hill and visiting the chapel, maybe walk through a row of vines or two. Such a highlight that we both still talk about and unlikely to repeat. If you want to get a view of the hill itself, then obviously go across the way like I mention in that above post.
As for Champagne we did a day trip from Paris so we took the fast train over and back, and we booked a driver for the day. Here’s their website: Sparkling Tour - Half or Full Day Champagne Tours - Oenotourisme Reims
Normally they take you to producers that they have lined up (no big houses, usually) and maybe a lunch stop or whatever. We booked a full day private tour, and Valentin was incredibly easy to talk to and alter plans. For example we had already booked a visit to Taittinger as we wanted to see both big and small producers, and we also had booked a nice lunch in Epernay, so I asked him to accommodate those bookings and to fill in with what he suggested around them, and he did a great job.
I don’t know if this much detail is helpful or overkill but here’s the (sort of) brief version of our day: they picked us up at the train station in Reims, took us straight to Taittinger. After that they had arranged a visit for us with Champagne Devavry in Champillon. Small producer (the owner was walking around and said hello to us) and we got to try almost the whole line up. Next he drove us to Epernay for lunch at La Grillade Gourmande, and I HIGHLY recommend this place. They have a wood fired grill and it was booked full with locals; solid wine list; just incredibly cozy on a cold day when we were there. After lunch he run us by Mercier to just view some of their wares we could easily see and talk about, no tasting. Then he took us to Voirin-Jumel, another small producer in Cotes des Blancs in Cramant. Tasted a bunch, got to walk their vines a little bit, again one of the family owners was there to chat us up a bit. After that we went by Hautvillers to see Dom Perignon’s grave and talk a bit about the history. After that we had a little more time before we needed to catch our train so he asked us what we wanted to do, and I suggested another tasting, he made a quick call, and soon we pulled up to Michel Fagot where we had a nice run through of their offerings, including a mini vertical of vintages. We liked all three of the small producers they took us to and still drink them to this day. Everybody’s tastes are different but it was well worth the money to book a private tour for the whole day with Sparkling Tour. The car was a small van and our guide Christophe was incredibly charming, helpful, flexible, knowledgeable, everything we wanted in a guide.
As for ubers generally, I would say they are not terribly reliable in lots of these places. If you stayed in Reims then you’d be fine; Epernay I would be hesitant about; and the smaller villages just assume you can’t do it. As for the Rhone, I think again it depends: if you stay in the big cities like Avignon then sure, but Tain or wherever, I wouldn’t rely on it.
Hard to give you a really experienced guideline, but I’d say you want to have your bookings (tours, visits, restaurants) at least 30 days out. Again that’s just my feeling and not based on a huge sample size.
I would have loved going even deeper, staying longer, and so on, but we both still really loved these trips even as brief as they were. Feel free to follow up with any questions, I’m happy to try to help. Bon voyage!