"The Origin of Champagne" a Reims Travel Page by Sambawalk

As a wine and champagne lover, I have long for visiting the origin of Champagne, that is the region of Champagne. Reims and Epernay are the cradle of Champagne.

In case you don't know, champagne is a kind of sparkling wine, meaning that there are some gas in the wine. The wine maker uses the technique of repeated fermentation to produce the gas in the white wine, which becomes champagne. By virtue of French law, only the sparkling wine which is prodcued in Champagne region, France can be called as "Champagne". the similar kind of sparkling wine outside this region has no choice but to use the term "Sparkling wine". May be if there are VT members who are lawyers may comment whether the sparkling wine produced in Australia can be called "Champagne".

You can visit many world class renowed Champagne cellars, such Moet & Chandon, Don Perignon, Piper-Heidsieck....

Take note that there is admission fee for the cellar tour, which should include at least a glass of champagne. The fee in general is EUR 7 or above, depending the cellar and the number of glass of Champagne you want to taste. The common price for 1 glass is EUR 3 or more.

I stayed one night in Reims and the other in Epernay. You can commute from one city to another by 30 mins train ride. EUR 5. Depending how much you want to feel these champagne area, some people may do day trips to cover 2 cities and then onward to the next destination or you stay 1 night in either city. In fact other than the cellars are not much to see in Epernay, whilst in Reims, there are a few historical sites, such asCathedrale Notre Dame and St Remi's Basilica, which are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In general, the town of Epernay is smaller and more quieter than that of Reims. As such, the accomodation may be cheaper in Epernay.