The Great Champagne Tour – Champagne by Bike, Mercier Visit and Final Tastings
The finale, part 6, combines two days in one where we had an amazing but extremely ambitious self-guided bike tour throughout various crus, our final official tour at Mercier and then last-minute tasting stops before returning on the Eurostar.
Champagne by bike
There are of course quite a few routes that you can manage by bike around Champagne, but as we were based in Epernay, the route along the Marne was an obvious choice. There are a number of bike rentals in Epernay - We went for Facile-e-bike located at the entrance of the Avenue de Champagne behind the tourist office. They have E-bikes and the normal manual stuff for those focused more on fitness than enjoying the Champagne and countryside, at quite decent rates.
My initial intention was to do the nearest Crus in the Cote de Blancs (Chouilly, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Vertus, Cuis etc), using this map found here, but the people at the rental shop were quite keen to discourage this. They suggested a much flatter, jauntier route in the opposite direction along the Marne on well paved cycle paths that was only a few kms long and would probably only really take a couple of hours. We ended up doing the route he suggested, but going our own way on top, and eventually completing a fairly ludicrous 56km over the course of the day - and wow did we feel it for the next day or two! But, that’s the price you have to pay to get around as many villages and Champagne houses as possible.
Our ambitious route
I've put a semi-accurate map to help you follow along, but Google would not allow me to adjust the route and add extra stops so it isn't 100%, but, it gives you a good idea of the overall route.
The route began with Dizy as the first stop, just north of Epernay, where you are already spoilt for choice with a number of grower Champagnes to stop at. Pushing north-west, you come out into real vineyard territory with row upon row of vines all around. This takes you towards Hautvillers up a long and steep climb, where you’ll be thankful you chose an electric bike. Having missed Dom Perignon’s abbey located here when we visited the day before, despite being there an hour before closing (French timings), we finally got in to pay our respects to his tomb and admire the pretty French church.
But, as we had already tried a few of the Champagne houses here, we swiftly continued our journey, heading back south down the chalky vineyard paths towards Cumieres. Cumieres was a must on my list, because it hosted my very favourite Champagne of the whole trip that I’d had the fortune to pick in a bar. Sadly, it is near impossible to buy in the UK, but the Philippe Martin Rosé de Saignée is an exceptional Rose Champagne, and I would strongly encourage visiting their house for a drink if you find yourself nearby. You can even stay there if you’d rather experience the sleepy village life than busier Epernay.
After a nice refuelling on the good stuff and stocking up our saddle bags with a few bottles, we continued along the Marne canal path to Damery, stopping for a picnic in the beautiful surroundings along the waterfront. Damery is, you guessed it, another Cru filled with Champagne houses left, right and centre.
Our next target was a bold move, pushing far north towards Fleury-la-Rivière which did not look quite so uphill on the map we had. Once again, the E-bikes proved a blessing to make it here! However, if you do follow this route, it was probably the most picturesque of the entire ride, with sweeping, rolling hills covered foot to crest and beyond in vines. Fleury-la-Rivière itself is an exceedingly sleepy, untouched French village, nestled in the quiet hills of Champagne. The church there only opened for about an hour a week and needed you to pre-arrange visitations, but the churchyard was still beautiful with commanding views looking down on the vineyards and across Champagne. Here, you can also visit La Cave aux Coquillages, an extraordinary underground museum and wine cellar, carved into the bedrock of Champagne showing the fossils from when the area was under the sea 45 million years ago. It is this very soil that makes Champagne such an apt place for making Champagne. It is described well by them as a “geo-œnological” experience and well-worth the visit to immerse yourself in the history of the area.
Pushing back south-west, we made our way through the vineyards towards Venteuil, which is a similar story to the other towns, but pretty and picturesque with great views down towards the Marne and across the valley. Again, it’s up to you which houses you go in for a refuel – there are many to choose from!
So, if you’ve been following on a map, you might think this would be the last stop before the return. And whilst we did head back along the Marne canal path towards Epernay, we shot straight past (although admittedly with some discomfort at the length of the journey already) towards Ay and Mareuil-sur-Ay, before finally crossing the bridge here to make our way towards Chouilly.
This path here is probably not one to recommend, or more precisely our chosen path isn’t. Warned off the D9 road by some locals for its speed and lack of bike space, we opted to go by field. And, the paths laden with flinty stones on chalk tracks are not good for rental bike tyres, or sore bottoms that have already done over 45km. Still, despite this painful but rather hilarious/delirious end, we made it to our destination.
And, why did we go through so much pain to get to Chouilly? We’d been recommended the Champagne house Hostomme by fellow Brits on our tasting at Boizel, who stock up on cases of the stuff each year. Plus, Chouilly was the start point of my original planned route so it seemed fitting.
Champagne M. Hostomme
I suspect there have been more relaxed visitors to Hostomme over the years, and we looked so badly in need of a drink that they allowed us to tag on to the end of the Champagne tour that was ongoing. We caught the tail end in the bottling room, giving a much more intimate demonstration than you’d get at the larger houses.
After this, we were invited onto the tasting of 5 cuvees which were more than welcome and ended up with us buying a fair few. They do all the usual suspects across the Champagne spectrum from Demi Sec to vintage, and they were some of the most memorable of the trip. I’d strongly recommend the Blanc de Blancs and Vintage. Funnily enough, on our return home when we decided to open a bottle of Fortnum’s Champagne we’d been gifted, I realised it had been made by Hostomme! Still, by no means a wasted visit.
Champagne Mercier Tour
Skipping over a tired evening, the final day big plan was the tour of Mercier. This is definitely one of the more funky tours, with a ginormous 19th century tun capable of holding 200,000 bottles of Champagne just sitting in the foyer and a tour of their cellars by laser guided train. The tun was a publicity stunt for the 1889 Paris World Exposition to advertise Mercier, requiring 24 oxen, 18 horses and the felling of trees and even houses on the route! The train is an homage to Mercier’s adventurous, pioneering and technological spirit, being a house always at the forefront of innovation having introduced the very first use of electric lighting in its cellars in 1886 and a lift.
Admittedly, the Champagne cellars do all begin to blend, especially since we’d seen 10 by this point, but it was a novel way of visiting and had lots of interesting points along the way (statues, frescoes etc) with excellent commentary to fill you in on more of the history.
After the train, you are taken into the light to see their vineyards and walk among the vines whilst learning more about the viticulture, and then the part you are most looking forward to, the tasting!
We had opted for the duo tour which gives you a tasting of their Mercier Blanc de Noirs and Mercier Brut Rose. The Blanc de Noirs is bursting with red fruits, apricot and rose notes, coupled with a gently bitter finish and creamy, luxurious mouthfeel. The Rose will please almost anyone: it’s fresh, dry, lively and full of red berries with a nice tangyness on the finish.
Overall, a good tour with a novel way of exploring the massive underground cellars. The wines are very nice too!
Final Stops
Whilst we weren’t able to coordinate tastings at these last places due to various timing constraints and availability, I want to give them a mention.
- Champagne Comtesse Lafond - A pretty, classical Chateau, recently restored, right at the end of the Avenue de Champagne. Tastings here feel classy and are excellent value. We tried the 2014 vintage and house Brut. Both excellent. You’ll mainly find their Loire wines exported outside of France over their Champagnes, which is a shame.
- De Venoge - A quick stop at the bar for this one, lured in by the sun, Chateau patio and their bulbous but elegant bottles. We tried the Rose and Blanc de Noirs. Was less impressed with the BDN than others I had tried, but the rose was very good indeed.
- Champagne Gosset - Probably my highlight and well worth the short walk up the hill off the Av de Champagne. Gosset is the oldest Champagne house, established in 1584, and the wines are a reflection of this heritage. The visitor area itself is a quiet but pretty garden which was a great way to see in our final few glasses. We were even treated to a special tasting of the last bottle of Gosset Petite Douceur Rose which has 11 years ageing on it. Do make sure you visit Gosset if you go to Epernay.