We were exploring the village of Ay in Champagne and came upon this place. It was an unexpected and…read moreterrific find! First of all, it's really hard to find tasting rooms that are open to the public with out a reservation. Second, many tastings require you to do a tour. And really you can only do so many tours. The champagne making process is really strict, so there are only so many variations between the different champagne houses, which is primarily the grapes they decide to use, the length of aging and whether oak is used. We were able to get a tasting at Champagne Collet without a reservation and without a tour. As such, my husband was a bit skeptical on how good this champagne would be. Well, it was excellent! From our experience and that of others, the champagne market is dominated by the big houses that export to the four corners of the world. The rest are smaller producers and it could be hit or miss, and Champagne Collet was a hit! They have a cool tasting room with their bottles displayed. There is merchandise, which I love to browse. And we did purchase a fabulous champagne carrier so that we can haul our Champagne Collet purchases home. Valerie, our hostess, explained all of their different champagnes and took great care of us. This was a fabulous experience. Champagne Collet does do tours, and if you want to join them for one, you should call ahead. And with most of the region, you should call to confirm they are open before heading over. Also, learn a couple of phrases in French besides Bonjour and Merci, it helps.

One of the smaller champagne houses in Epernay and the only one that stills uses the traditional…read moreoak barrels for the first step in the distillation process. The tasting room is fairly small but includes a couple of outdoor tables that provide a peak into their barrel house which was an added plus. Our group decided to each do a tasting and share sips in order to try the most number of champagnes. Tasting includes two heavy pours for roughly 30€ per person (slightly more or less based on your selections). We really enjoyed the Paradis, a 2016 vintage, and the brut. One nice touch that this champagne house does is to provide a paper ring around the base of each champagne glass in order to tell which type of champagne is in each glass. This is helpful for larger groups which are sharing a number of glasses. Our group had visited a few champagne houses before this and sometimes had trouble keeping track of our glasses. The woman working in the tasting room was very friendly and definitely offered heavy pours. Overall, a smaller house but still a big experience. Check them out!

Decent tour, very informative. Disappointed by only two tastings for the price. It was cool to see…read morea smaller company tour, but price is high.

When you love champagne and are visiting Epernay, what could be better than staying at a winemaker…read morevilla on Ave du Champagne? NOTHING I stayed for 2 nights (very much off season) and found the rooms to be historic, comfortable and very nice! It's like you're staying at a rich old French relatives house - tasty breakfast, lovely spaces and great wine. Location wise you're in the middle of Champagne Row. Bar Brut is across the street and highly recommended. There's a small tasting room, and breakfast is tasty. I loved my stay here!!

My favorite tasting along Avenue de Champagne!…read more I didn't stay the night here, just did the Sensory Tasting in their cellar on property. Our tasting host was so friendly and knowledgeable which elevated the experience. The variety of champagnes were delicious and it was so fun with the addition of the "sensory" aspect of the tasting to try to identify and pair the subtle aromas in each. I only wish it was a little longer, being only one hour and totally private it felt a little rushed at the end so they can bring in the next tasting appointment. But we did take a bottle of our favorite champagne home after stopping by their shop!

Was a wonderful stop on our champagne journey The tour was…read moregreat and very informative, the guide was very knowledgeable and my favorite part was the "smell testers" you had to guess what types of ingredients/fruits notes were in the champagne Always good to support the smaller champagne houses

Our tour group had a guided tour of this champagne winery. Like many other champagne wineries, it…read moreis located in the champagne capital of France, the town of Epernay. We learned a champagne is not a certifiable champagne unless it is produced in this region and also made only from 3 grape varieties - chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. We got to see their cellar as well as smell the grape varieties, and then also concluded the tour with a tasting of two of their champagnes - a clear one and a rose one. Both were nice and it was a first for me to have a rose champagne.

Beautiful setting. Beautiful champagne. It's one of our favorites. We sat at the bar and ordered…read morethe pesto sandwich and Caesar salad. The young man who took our order forgot to put it in, so we had to wait a bit longer for food, but once it came, it was delicious. One of the best lunches we had while in Épernay.

Awesome place! We had a few bites to eat with our glasses of champagne. Staff seemed very…read moreknowledgeable of the champagne they had available.

This was our first stop when we arrived in Champagne. We had a large group and our host set us up…read morein their very nice tasting room. We had 6 very generous champagne tasters and he explained the difference between them and gave us some background. He also told us the best order to taste them in. He asked us what we thought of each one and what were our favorites. He was very friendly and knowledgeable and I would definitely recommend this place.

Lovely spot to try champagne. All of the different types of champagne were explained very well. Go…read moreif you like a laid back spot without any pressure.

Lovely tour and beautiful grounds Enjoyed a tasty glass of…read moregood quality champagne outside overlooking a beautiful view, very windy but you can't control the weather Be sure to bring a sweater / wrap very cold in the wine cellar as to be expected

I have visited this Maison with my family for tour and tasting in early January. It was great,…read moreamazing winery tasting & tour experience ever had!! When we arrived, they welcomed us at gorgeous room then took cave tour. Mrs. Isabel guided us cave and explained history of Maison, geographic structure & speciation around Champagne region, house policy, motto of wine making so on. cave is also partially modified educationally and artistically. Champagne tasting after tour was also unforgettable moment. There champagne is absolutely elegant, has many of structure and flavor. This is one of best experience during our visiting at France.

This is a lovely Champagne house in the middle of Damery. We stopped in here because we had had…read moretheir vintage Champagne at dinner a couple of times, and we knew we wanted to try to get some to take home. The nice thing about this one is that they are open in the morning and afternoon, and you don't need to make a booking before you go. They will let you try several of their wines. Since I was driving, I could only have a splash, but they all seemed really good. I think this winery is the one we brought the most bottles home from. We got several bottles of the vintage (because it was so good as so much cheaper than at dinner, only around 25 Euros a bottle I think), and a few of the others. There's quite a bit of seating for tastings, but when we arrived, it was already half full, and the other half filled up quite quickly. There are English speakers if that is necessary for you. All in all, this is a great house with great wine. If we're back, I know we'll be making this a stop to pick up more of their delicious wine. (They also sell pre-made French food like foie gras that you can take away with you as well.)