Upon arrival in Reims on Thursday, the trip will start in true style at the oldest Champagne House, Ruinart. As well as meeting your Grape Escapes guide and the rest of the group, you will be taken on a guided tour of the estate and stunning cellars, which are classified as a historical monument. The tour will be followed by a first tasting of your choice between Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Ruinart rosé and their flagship Prestige Cuvée Dom Ruinart, white or rosé. Pre-booked and pre-paid taxi transfers will be arranged to take you from your hotel to this visit.

On Friday morning, a chauffeured mini-coach and your Grape Escapes guide will collect you from your hotel and accompany you throughout the day on an unforgettable tour. The first visit of the day will take place at the estate of Champagne Bollinger in the village of Ay, for an exclusive tour of their cellars, and a tasting session of three Bollinger Champagnes.

You will then be taken out into the picturesque vineyards, where you will start your second tour of the day as the guests of a small, family-run Champagne House. As well as having a tour of the property with the estate’s charming and charismatic eighth-generation owner and seeing first-hand the fascinating Champagne-making process from press to bottle, you will learn the Napoleonic art of Sabrage (the art of opening the Champagne bottle with a sword). Since you will each open a bottle you will then need to drink at least some of the Grand Cru Champagnes that have been opened.  A four-course lunch will accompany the Champagne, served in the estate’s dining room. In the afternoon, you will visit a medium-sized co-operative, which produces excellent quality Champagnes from the Vallée de la Marne. Here, you will discover Champagne production on a more industrial scale, and your tour will conclude with a delicious Champagne and chocolate pairing experience.

The first stop on Saturday will be Champagne Veuve Clicquot. The Signature visit includes a full tour of the House, which was built over the historic chalk crayères extracted by the Romans, and of the cellars. The visit will conclude with a flute of the famous Yellow Label Champagne as well as a flute of the latest Veuve Clicquot vintage. The tour at Veuve Clicquot will be followed by a gourmet four-course lunch in a highly-regarded restaurant.

Before heading to Epernay after lunch, we will take a short detour to the famous hilltop village of Hautvillers, the “cradle of Champagne.” As well as admiring the spectacular views across the vineyards, your guide will take you on a tour of the village, visiting places such as the Church where Dom Pérignon is buried. Finally, you will visit the largest and grandest Champagne house, Moët and Chandon, where you will have an exclusive Dom Pérignon tour. You will be visiting some of the oldest areas of the cellars which are seldom visited by the public and a tasting of Dom Pérignon will conclude the visit in an elegant reception room at the Moët mansion.