Épernay

What it is

Épernay is the southern commercial capital of Champagne, sitting on the Marne. It functions as a hinge between three subregions: Vallée de la Marne to the west, Côte des Blancs to the south, and Montagne de Reims to the north. Officially there are few vineyards in the commune itself, but several iconic houses are headquartered here.

Avenue de Champagne

The Avenue de Champagne is a one-kilometre street of wine palaces, cellars and townhouses. The lead-up to UNESCO recognition in 2015. The key names:

• Moët & Chandon (founded 1743): largest house, owner of Dom Pérignon
• Pol Roger (1849): small, independent, famous for Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill
• Perrier-Jouët (1811): smaller maison with the Belle Époque bottle
• Mercier (1858): known for giant casks and an underground cellar train
• De Castellane: art nouveau tower

A network of 110 kilometres of cellars runs beneath the avenue, much of it in former chalk quarries.

Wine geography

From Épernay you can drive to most Côte des Blancs Grand Cru villages (Cramant, Avize, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger) in twenty minutes. The Vallée de la Marne runs directly west along the river, with Hautvillers (where Dom Pérignon worked) on the slopes above.

Visit and history

Like Reims, hit hard in the First World War. The cellars served as shelter here too. Today the city is heavily touristic; many large houses offer structured tours with tastings. Hautvillers (5 km north) holds the tomb of Dom Pérignon in the abbey church.

For lexicon purposes

Reims is larger and more commercial; Épernay is more intimate and geographically more embedded in the vineyards. Which of the two is the “real” capital of Champagne depends on whom you ask. Both sit on the 2015 UNESCO list.