Champagne Wine Region
Aah… Champagne! A wine that will always be a welcome, sparkling treat and a beautiful region with mile after mile of vineyards and small champagne producers to discover.
Champagne’s vineyard area is larger than you might think with 14,000 growers and 300 villages spread across three main growing areas – the Montagne de Reims south of the famous cathedral city, the Cote des Blancs around Epernay and the Marne Valley.
Most of the annual grape production is bought up by the 110 Champagne houses or co-operatives and blended into famous brands and supermarket own labels, but around 5,000 growers bottle some of their production under their own name.
This makes the area a great hunting ground for visiting wine lovers.
The 18 grand cru villages are a good place to start, particularly in the Cote des Blancs. You will find champagnes made by small scale growers with all the finesse and elegance of the top brands but at under 2/3 of the price.