Champagne Tastings — Reims, Épernay, the Villages & Day Trips from Paris

Champagne is the world’s most protected wine name and its most visitable: the grandes maisons of Reims and Épernay run cathedral-scale chalk cellars (the crayères, some Roman-begun, many UNESCO-listed), while the growers’ villages pour the insurgent side of the story — champagne made by the family that grew it. Reims is the cathedral city with the biggest names; Épernay’s Avenue de Champagne is the richest street in France measured by what’s under it; and Paris day trips make the whole region a lunch-included excursion. Compare below.