Create Your Own Champagne with this unique hands on package

At a glance

Trip Summary

After breakfast on day two, you will be collected by a pre-booked, pre-paid taxi, which will take you the short distance out into the Champagne vineyards. Here you will be welcomed as the guests of a boutique Premier Cru Champagne maker where a unique opportunity awaits you! The Champagne maker himself will escort you around his vineyards, explaining the work he does and the history of his vines. After this, you will tour his cellars and production site, where he will explain the full Champagne-making process, from vine to bottle, which means that you will gain a full and excellent understanding of the practice. Following the extensive tour, you will then have the opportunity to participate in a blending lesson with the wine maker. During the lesson you will have the chance to taste a selection of still base wines (Chardonnay/ Pinot Noir/Meunier); these base wines will have been vinified in either stainless steel vats or wooden barrels and you will taste examples of both, in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the different methods of vinification and its effects on the end product. You are then able to create and bottle your very own perfect Champagne, mixing your own personal blend, tailored to your specific tastes.

Of course, no visit would be complete without a tasting of the Champagne House’s own Champagnes, so having created your own, you will be welcomed to taste the Champagnes produced at the estate by the wine maker. After you leave the estate, the wine maker will age your unique Champagne in his cellars for a minimum of fifteen months. At each stage of the wonderful transformation from still wine to Champagne, he will send you photographs and any news relating to your bottle. Once ready, the Champagne maker will create a personalised label for your bottle with your names on and two to three years following your initial visit, you can either return to the region to collect your creation, or he will arrange for the Champagne to be sent to you in the UK.

You will be taken back to Reims after the activity, and you will have some free time for lunch. In the afternoon, you will have the chance to visit your favourite Champagne Houses in Reims for a tour and tastings. Subject to your dates of travel / availability, options include Taittinger, GH Mumm, Pommery, Ruinart and Veuve Clicquot.

Please note that some of these Houses (particularly Veuve Clicquot and Ruinart) are very popular and offer very few tours, therefore early booking is essential. You will be taken back to your hotel by a pre-booked and pre-paid taxi at the end of the tour. In the evening, a three course Champagne tasting dinner will be served in a cosy restaurant located ten minutes’ walk from the main square. Each course will be accompanied by a different glass of Champagne.

After a leisurely breakfast, check out of the hotel and drive back to the UK, taking the Eurotunnel from Calais to Folkestone. Before leaving the region, you may wish to take the time to explore Reims, the city of Kings and the gateway to Champagne. Reims is home to no less than three UNESCO world heritage sites including one of the finest gothic cathedrals in northern Europe where 25 Kings of France were crowned. If you would like to make your Grape Escapes holiday even more special, there are a number of additional activities that we can arrange for you. To complement the experience, these could be arranged to fit in around your current itinerary or we can arrange additional nights at your hotel as well as a stop-over on your way home and even a visit to another part of France.

Region Map

Outline Itinerary

Day Two of your Create Your Own Champagne tour

• After breakfasts, you will be taken to a small family-run Champagne house for a full tour of the estate, wine making facilities and a blending workshop. After making your very own Champagne, you will sample some of the estate’s Champagnes.
• You will be taken back to Reims after the tour.
• You will have some free time for lunch.
• In the afternoon, walk to your favourite prestigious Champagne Houses in Reims for a full tour of the estate and cellars and a flute of two of their Champagne. Options include Ruinart, Veuve Clicquot, Taittinger, GH Mumm and Pommery.
• At pre-booked and pre-paid taxi will take you back to your hotel at the end of the tour.
• In the evening, a three course dinner with three different Champagnes will be served in a cosy restaurant in the city centre.

Final Day of your Create Your Own Champagne tour

• After breakfast, check out of the hotel and make your way home taking the Eurotunnel from Calais to Folkestone.

(ii) The outline itinerary is indicative and is subject to minor changes depending on supplier availability. Availability cannot be guaranteed until we have received a confirmed booking, together with the deposit payment (or payment in full where the dates of travel are in less than 60 days). If the named accommodation / visits are not available, we will endeavour to find suitable alternatives of a similar grade; this may be subject to a supplement or a rebate depending on the price available.

Package Prices

• These prices are per person and based on two people travelling together and sharing a twin or double room.
• These are realistic guide prices, based on travel in standard season (usually April to the end of October). Discounts often apply for travel out of season (usually November to the end of March) or if there are more than two of you travelling together. Please let us know your preferred travel dates for a definitive price.
• Although we propose specific hotels as part of our standard packages, we enjoy excellent relationships and preferential rates at the majority of the hotels in each of our featured destinations. Therefore if you would prefer to stay in a different hotel, this can be arranged. Please contact us for the relevant supplements/discounts.
• Other room grades are available at most of the hotels that we work with. Just let us know which hotel you prefer and we will send you the relevant supplements for the various room grades.
• Single supplements and extra night prices are available upon request.

Special Offers

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Further Information