Make Your Own Champagne!

As featured in the Sunday Times, we are delighted to bring you an exciting new package, which will allow you to create your own unique Champagne blend, which will then be produced and aged by a Premier Cru Champagne-maker!

Please accept our apologies, but this tour is not currently available.

Day One

• Drive from the UK to Reims, taking the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais. You are free to choose your crossing time.
• Upon arrival in Reims, check into a Tradition room at the 4* Hotel de la Paix, located in the heart of the city centre just off the main square.
• The hotel has its own secure underground car park and we will reserve a space for you. Parking at the hotel costs 15 Euros per day and can be paid for directly at check out.
• The remainder of the day and evening will be free for you to do as you please. You may wish to relax and enjoy the hotel’s superb facilities. Alternatively, you may prefer to wander across the city centre, exploring the excellent range of shops and boutiques.
• In your travel pack there will be a comprehensive list of recommended restaurants. We would be pleased to reserve you a table at any of these for dinner. We have negotiated a number of exclusive menus with some of the city’s best restaurants and would be pleased to advise you of the relevant supplements if you would like to include dinner as part of your Grape Escapes package.

Day Two

• After breakfast, 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 personalised labels 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. The package includes one bottle of your own personal Champagne per person.
• In the evening, we would again be pleased to reserve you a table for dinner if required.

Day Three

• 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