Champagne Paris Tastings and Tours

Champagne, the region Champagne-Ardenne, is 2hrs by car and just 45 minutes by train from Paris through lovely farms and vineyards, chateaux, typical Champenois timber-framed churches and pretty villages. The region, rich in history and culture, is perfect for leisurely strolls, fine food and sampling the king of all wines that is used for so many celebrations and joyous occasions, Champagne.

The wine made from grapes in this area have a natural tendency to sparkle, but in the late 17th century the English, discovered that giving the wine a second fermentation could produce a wine that had lots more sparkle even though it was Dom Perignon who mastered the blending of grapes from different vineyards and mixing with wines from different harvests, the overall quality and uniformity improved and became more consistent in character. Perignon was the first to initiate the practice of aging, conserving and transporting champagne in bottles, and he is credited with being the first vintner to use corks to seal the wines and thicker, English-made glass bottles that held up under pressure.

Carbon is the current official Champagne for Formula One. The bottles, containing a vintage100 percent Chardonnay 2009 Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru, are coated in the same carbon fibre used in manufacturing race cars. $3000 a bottle of Magnum. Not availble to tour

Lanson’s cellar master told DB News "that the producer’s top expression always spends between 12 and 15 years maturing in bottles before release, adding that both the brut and blanc de blancs Noble Cuvées had been disgorged in June 2015, meaning that the Champagnes from the 2002 harvest have spent 12 years ageing on their lees, and almost 18 months off them". Cellar visits possible

Georges Laval's vineyard in Cumières, north-west of Épernay produces certified organic champagne from a small parcel of just 2.5hectares. Visiting the vineyard one early morning was Lumley and Saunders, the girls from the British series AbFab who learn how to pick grapes. Fancy a go? Cellar visits possible