Mercier Champagne Cellars, Marne, Champagne Ardenne

Mercier Champagne Cellars, Marne, Champagne Ardenne mini guide

Guide point	Details
Department:	North East France > Champagne Ardenne > Marne >
Switch board number:	+ 33 (0)3 26 51 22 22
Visit owner's personal website:	http://www.champagnemercier.com/
Quick links to accommodation:	Accommodation near Mercier Champagne Cellars, Marne, Champagne Ardenne - Hotels in Mercier Champagne Cellars, Marne, Champagne Ardenne Show accommodation in Marne - Self catering in Marne - Bed and Breakfast in Marne properties with pools in Marne -

You will start the visit with an audiovisual show on a panoramic screen about Eugène Mercier, his exploits and the history of Champagne Mercier.
After this you will descend into the cellars thirty metres underground in a lift with a clear screen showing Champagne Country scenes.
You will visit of parts of the 18 km long cellars in a laser-guided train with a guide who will tell you about the cellars and the art of champagne making.
The visit concludes, of course, with a champagne tasting (over 18s only).
Length of visit: 45mins to 1hr. 

Discover the Mercier Cellars

Follow the example of the thousands of annual visitors who come to learn about the Mercier Champagne House and the life of its founder...you are invited to experience the magical atmosphere of the Mercier cellars.

A Unique and Original Visit

The Mercier host or hostess will guide you through the labyrinth of cellars 30 metres below ground. At the end of the tunnel lies the very soul of Mercier champagne.

Start of visit

On arrival you will see the amazing giant vat that the founder Eugène Mercier took 16 years to build before transporting it to the World Exhibition of Paris in 1889.After this initial exhibit which symbolises the Mercier heritage, you will be shown into a room for an audiovisual show on a panoramic screen. This introductory film will take you back into Mercier's past and convey something of the spirit of its founding father.

Panoramic lifts descend 30 metres into the depths of the cellars. On their way down,
visitors can enjoy visual representations of the vineyards and the work carried out in the cellars

The cellars

The tour of the cellars takes place aboard a small laser-guided automatic train.

In 1871, Eugène Mercier ordered work to start on excavating these cavernous tunnels. The men dug into the rock with pick-axes to create a single-level cellar. The founder instructed the architect to "count in kilometres and not metres" and, in all, 18 kilometres were excavated to open directly on to a private track connecting with the Paris-Strasbourg railway line.

In excavating cellars specially designed to facilitate wine transport, Eugène Mercier was careful not to neglect aesthetic aspects. Indeed, the artist Gustave-André Navlet was appointed to carve magnificent high-relief decorations in the chalk.
It is in this environment, far from the light and at a constant temperature, that their 15 million bottles are stored.
Throughout the tour, the host or hostess will explain the philosophy and the art of Mercier’s approach to champagne making.

Where the tunnels cross, you will notice the entrance to a vault called the "glacière". This is where Mercier's oenological memory bank is kept. Since 1923, each chef de cave has stored a few old vintages in the "glacière" for future generations. 

In order to retain their optimum qualities, they are stored laid on battens or upright – they are only disgorged on exceptional occasions.
The Mercier chef de cave is the only key holder for this vault which contains bottles for very special occasions.

Back to the surface

Once this initial 35-minute tour is over, you will return to the surface to taste a Mercier cuvée (or 3 depending on your choice of tasting) accompanied by a sommelier.
You will then discover the world of Mercier through a range of champagnes and items presented in our store.
The vines you will notice on your way out are there to help prolong your experience of the champagne land and grape varieties.

Length of visit: 45mins to 1hr

Opening Hours (indication only, please check before visiting):

• High Season – mid March to mid November: open 7 days a week.
• Low Season – mid February to mid March & mid November to mid December: closed Tuesdays & Wednesdays.
• Annual Closure: mid December to mid February.
• Opening Hours: 09.30am to 11.30am and 2pm to 4.30pm.

Prices vary depending on the tour type. Please visit the website link for further tour information.

Copyright: The images and information have kindly been supplied by 'World Wide Attractions'