Hautvillers

More from Champagne...

a glimpse of the valley

Hautvillers is a small hilltop village across the river Marne from Épernay in the Champagne region. There are wonderful views of the vineyards and the river valley and a selection of restaurants, cafes , antique dealers and places to try the local product.

somewhere for lunch

gorgeous little house

le mairie (town hall)

At the top of the village is the Église Saint-Sulphide de l’Abbaye Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers. This is the last resting place of Dom Pérignon ( and you know why he is famous !) as he was the cellar master at the abbey for 47 years.

l'église Saint-Sulphide

final resting place of  Dom Pérignon

impressive

I particularly like the business signs in the streets…..

And the views of the countryside are outstanding...

looking toward Épernay

the river valley

the hills are carpeted with vines

what a lovely way to see the countryside

I understand that the vendage (picking) started on monday, so let's hope for a successful harvest.

jusqu'à la prochaine fois

group lunch in Rheims - great memories

More of Champagne…

our sentiments exactly !

While we were in Champagne-Ardenne region we stayed in Epernay at a comfortable little champagne house on Avenue de Champagne . As we were surrounded by the corporate homes of some of the top champagne producers it was easy to find a place for an aperitif each evening before walking down into the centre of town for dinner.

Champagne A. Bergere - our home for our visit

Avenue de Champagne with the vineyards surrounding the town

This area was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2015, for it’s vineyards and it’s history The Avenue de Champagne is lined with the beautiful homes of Moët et Chandon, Pol Roger, Mercier, De Castellane, Perrier-Jouët, and many more.

Discrete building for Pol Roger

Gorgeous entrance

Moët et Chandon

L'Orangerie at Moët with the vine covered hills behind

A very grand war memorial in front of the museum

museum of Epernay

 

there are so many beautiful posters produced by wine houses
 - unfortunately, very few of them are for sale

Interesting how many belgian cars we spotted here. Apparently they like to pop across the border regularly  and stock up , as you do. The wine caves under this town are recent additions and very wet and dark, so different to Rheims where the caves were cut out of the chalk hill in roman times and are dryer and lighter.

Favourite tour - Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin in Rheims. We were lucky to be given a private tour without a booking ( there were eight of us) as it is usually essential to pre-book at all the champagne houses. Our charming guide made the tour interesting and was very generous with the tasting afterward in a private room. Naturally we felt inclined to buy a few bottles, and even some champagne glasses to add to our stock at home.

follow the yellow path

sculpture in the caves

the oldest vintages are kept under lock and key

We also discovered the picturesque village of Hautvillers nearby,so more to come....

Tchin Tchin !