A Tasty Visit to the Taittinger Champagne Cellars
- Brooke
- Oct 18, 2017
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2023
One of the best things about visiting the rolling hills of the northern French countryside is the wine. And when you find yourself in the city of Reims, there's only one kind of wine worth thinking about, the product celebrated the world over - champagne.
Champagne is the name of this particular region of France, but also the name of the wine they craft. Perfecting centuries old techniques, coupled with the passion of generations of producers, and it's no wonder the world celebrates with champagne.
Any visit to Reims would not be complete without visiting the various champagne houses (or, in French, maisons de champagne) to see how the wine is made, where it is stored, and to sample a glass or two straight from the source. If this doesn't sound like your idea of a good time, you need to ask yourself, how are we even still friends?
J/k. (But maybe not).
But with two trips to Reims under our belt (though they were both brief trips), Ben and I have attempted to visit as many of these maisons de champagne as time will allow. Taittinger, with its timelessly beautiful advertising, brightly colored packaging, and overall cheery feeling that emanates from their brand seemed like an obvious place to visit. Neither one of us had sampled their wine before, but we are always open to sampling new brands.
Taittinger is one house with lots of tour times, even open on Mondays when all the rest of France is indulging in baguettes and croissants, and sitting in cafés or whatever it is the French do with this random day of the week off. I'm not hating, I'm really not. In fact, it sounds like perfection. I only wish this concept might one day trickle over to America, but I won't be holding my breath for it to happen any time soon.
Back to the matter at hand - open on Mondays! And Tuesdays too, another tricky day for exploring places in France. And so, on our last day in the Champagne region, Ben and I set off on another tour of the crayères, or caverns, deep below the city of Reims, filled figuratively to the brim with literally millions of bottles of bubbly goodness, and where you can be sure to find me in the event of nuclear holocaust. I might even save you a bottle of champagne for when you get there.
Let's get started.
First you have to find the place, and don't be surprised if you drive around the block more than once trying to find the entrance. The walls around their complex let you know that you're close. Follow the car sign as shown below, and not the direction for bus parking, unless you've somehow managed to commandeer one randomly, and prepare to once again descend deep beneath the city.
The best part about all of the various champagne tours is that none of them are the same. You might be thinking to yourself, "Brooke, you've already explored 15,029 other maisons de champagne. What else could you possible expect to see on this tour?"
Weeeeeeellllll, since you asked, quite a bit! Taittenger's tour takes you beneath the city, yes, just like Veuve Cliquot and Pommery and Moet & Chandon. But, Taittenger's crayères are the only ones that we visited that had previously been a 13th century abbey deep under the city. Evidence of the abbey is apparent throughout the tour, with religious relics on display, and small alcoves perfect for a long silent prayer. Originally carved as a Gallo-Roman salt mine around the 4th century, the caverns are still a functional, beautiful place to spend an hour.
Our friendly guide took Ben and I along with two other couples down sixty feet (18 m.) below the city streets and into the place where the magic happens.
Not that kind of magic, silly, but the magic of turning grape juice into delectable, bubbly goodness. There, beneath the hustle and bustle of Reims are riddling boards lining the hallways filled with bottles waiting for their next gentle turn.
Each time we've taken a tour of a champagne house it's hard to initially tell the sheer scale of the storage situation - until you start poking around and see the caves upon caves filled to the brim with bottles of wine. In the case of Taittenger, 15 million bottles are simply waiting in the cool, dark cellars waiting for their eventual day in the sun. 15 million. In just one company's crayères.
Yeah. Now you know why you'll find me in Reims on the eve of nuclear holocaust.
That particular alcove above, one of MANY, mind you, is holding somewhere north of 72,000 bottles of wine alone, so this might be a good first place to look for me should I ever go missing.
Where the big boys are kept.
Each tour includes information about the different sizes of bottles, from the standard sized, all the way up to the Nebuchadnezzar, which is roughly the equivalent of 20 standard sized bottles of wine. The more famous Magnum is small potatoes in comparison - it only holds 2 standard bottles.
Hidden behind locked gates, this is where Taittenger's more exclusive bottles are stored. Sadly, this is as close as I will ever get to them.
The scope of the caverns is hard to capture on camera - the ceilings soar above your head, the length of each is staggering.
Small details can be found all around the caverns, randomly popping up in unexpected places.
There are a few things each tour has in common, but are no less interesting. Used during World War I as a hiding place, French soldiers used the chalky walls as a place to mark their presence still seen over a century later, and perhaps for hundreds or thousands of years hence.
Each tour also gives visitors an explanation of how the riddling process works, where the yeast eats the sugar, creating a deposit of debris. It's unlikely you've ever drank a bottle of champagne with this debris left in it, and that's all thanks to this riddling process. The bottles are turned upside down, shaken to dislodge the particles from the bottom of the bottle, and then suspended at different angles. A riddler comes and turns the bottle a small degree percentage every few days, and over time, the particles are deposited into the neck of the bottle. Then, in a process called dégorgement, or disgorging, they freeze the neck of the bottle, forming a plug so that when they open the bottle, the particles shoot out due to the pressure of the fermentation. Finally, a small percentage of sugar is added back in, and then the bottle is capped, labeled and ready to head out for a night on the town. Or wherever it is that you plan on enjoying a glass.
And of course, each tour ends in the best way possible - with a sampling of the product that you just spent the last hour gawking at in its various forms of readiness. Generally speaking, each tour offers different levels of sampling - you can pick the option that best suits your interests and budget.
If you're like me, you'll always wind up taking a bottle or two home with you. Purchasing champagne in Champagne is, you'll never guess this but it's true, MUCH cheaper than buying it back in the United States. Be sure to save extra room in your luggage for just such occasions.
Ben and I purchased a bottle of Rosé that we're still saving for a special occasion. Any day now we'll get around to drinking it. That reminds me, I'm pretty sure today has something special about it - I'll catch ya later.
Cheers!
Taittinger Details
Taittinger is located in the city of Reims, in the Champagne region of France. Reims is about a 45 minute high-speed rail trip from Paris, but we have always driven there. Taittenger offers free off street parking - you just have to find it.
Website
For more information about tours and purchasing bottles of Champagne Taittenger near you, visit their website here.
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