Region
Reims
Northern capital of Champagne. Not a vineyard village itself, but home to the major houses and the UNESCO-listed chalk cellars (crayères).
What it is
Reims is not a vineyard commune in the strict sense, but the northern commercial capital of Champagne. The headquarters of six of the great houses are here: Veuve Clicquot, Pommery, Taittinger, Krug, Mumm, Ruinart and Lanson. The vineyards begin south and southeast of the city, on the Montagne de Reims.
The crayères
Beneath Reims lie the crayères: chalk quarries cut by the Romans from around the third century. Deep vertical shafts whose walls have been carved into cellar chambers with a constant temperature (10 to 12 degrees Celsius) and high humidity. Ideal for slow yeast fermentation and long ageing. Since 2015 they have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list along with the vineyards and house streets of Reims and Épernay, under the title “Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars”.
Which house where
- Ruinart: oldest Champagne house (founded 1729), chalk cellars on Rue de Crayères
- Veuve Clicquot: Rue du Temple, developed the riddling technique in 1816
- Krug: Rue Coquebert, small-scale high-end with deep reserve-wine stocks
- Pommery: striking crayères with an art collection, Avenue Pommery
- Taittinger: crayères beneath the Saint-Nicaise abbey
- Mumm: Rue du Champ de Mars
- Lanson: Boulevard Lundy
- Roederer: Boulevard Lundy
Cathedral and history
The cathedral of Reims is France’s coronation cathedral: from Clovis (508) and from at least Hugues Capet (987) up to Charles X (1825), nearly every French king was crowned here. Champagne was poured at those coronations, though at the time mostly still wine. The city was heavily bombed in the First World War; the cellars served as shelter for thousands of residents.
For visitors
Train from Paris Gare de l’Est: 45 minutes by TGV. Almost all the big houses offer tours, often by appointment. For lexicon purposes: Reims is the distribution and marketing heart of Champagne, not the vineyard.