Champagne

About Champagne

As an appellation d’origine contrôlée, a protected designation of origin, this is the only place that can officially use the name Champagne. Located forty-five minutes east of Paris by train, there are hundreds of producers ranging from small family-owned wineries and collectives to prestigious Champagne houses like Louis Roederer and Moët & Chandon (who produce Cristal and Dom Pérignon respectively).

Most people traveling to Champagne will want to do some winery visits and tastings! Visit the producers with a private driver, on a group tour, or on an e-bike to learn about traditional méthode champenoise fermentation. Visits always include a delightful dégustation, an opportunity to sample the famous drink. Enology classes explain the flavor nuances and the usage of pinot noir, pinot Meunier, and chardonnay grapes. In 2015 Champagnes’ hillsides, houses, and wine cellars were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

This region is critically important to French history. It was from here that Clovis I united the Frankish tribes, pushed the Romans out of Gaul, and became the first King of France in the late 5th century. He converted to Catholicism, and was baptized on the site of the current Reims Cathedral. This made the church a symbolic space where a millennium of French monarchs would be crowned. 

Wine was cultivated in this area at least as early as the 5th century, often in monasteries. The 17th-century Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon is certainly the region’s most famous character. He is credited with inventing sparkling Champagne, but the myth is not true. He took steps to improve wine-making process and actually decrease bubbles in the wine. At the time refermentation in the bottle was considered a serious defect. Building pressure in the bottles would cause them to explode. Sparkling Champagne would not become trendy until the 19th century. 

The location of Champagne between Paris and the German border put it on World War I’s Western Front. Military history aficionados can tour the nearby Marne battlefields and memorials.  

Cuisine

Jambon sec des Ardennes, a salt-cured ham leg, is one of the region’s most famous foods, but all the pork specialties are delicious.

For those with a sweet tooth, the popular biscuits roses de Reims are pink vanilla-flavored cookies that can be dunked into one’s Champagne.

Adventurous eaters can try andouillette de Troyes (tripe sausage), snails, or pieds de porc à la Sainte-Ménehould, pig feet stewed for so long that the bones soften and become edible.