In the Champagne Cellars (Caves – in French), deep underground, with a length of over 6 kilometers (!) There are storages of sparkling wine from the moment the company was founded to the present day. In fact, all the cellars and the ground part of the House de Castellane are one big Museum, telling in great detail about the process of making this drink from ancient times to modern production. The building has several specialized sections reserved exclusively for the Museum of the Winemaking, the House of Champagne de Castellane, is:
– A complex of ancient buildings and architectural structures, including a tower
– Museum “Traditions of Champagne Wines” in the ground part, including the following sections:
* the history of the production of barrels for this drink
* dry wine production and bottling
* stoppers in bottles
* collection of various de Castellane labels
* Epernay – the capital of champagne, grape harvest and winemaking
* history of the House of Champagne de Castellane
– Cellars and cellars, underground network over 6 km.
– Museum of the history of winemaking in the underground part
– Stocks of collectible wine in the Cellar and an old manual process
– Operating plant – modern production
– Tasting Room de Castellane
— Brand Shop Champagne
– Auction House with collection bottles of various years
Guided tours of the Champagne House de Castellane.
In the premises of the House de Castellane, there are guided tours of the Museum of the History of Champagne wines in the ground part and in the cellars, where you are shown in practice the entire history of Winemaking from the century before last to the present day. At the end of the tour, you will be given the opportunity to taste the drink and buy it in the company’s boutique.
Practical tourist information: the tour consist of the several parts, the self-guided tour, the guided tour and the tasting room.
Opening hours: open daily, tours from 10.00 – 12.00 and from 14.00 – 18.00 the launch of visitors stops at 11.00 and 17.00, respectively.
The price of the entrance ticket to the Cellars, the Museum and the Observation Tower is 12 Euro. The price includes one glass of champagne. For an additional fee, you can order: a glass of brut – 6 euros, a glass of semi-dry – 6 euros, a glass of pink champagne – 7 euros.
Museum of Champagne Traditions
Visits to the ground part of the complex are made independently, before visiting the cellars with a guide or after them. The ground exhibition consists of the following sections and expositions:
Barrels. Production technology. The collection contains all the hardware and other genuine tools for making all the main wood and iron parts of champagne barrels. Authentic old machines for making barrels for juice fermentation are exhibited in the hall. Each showcase is provided with explanatory information about the creation process. There are mannequins in historical form, which makes it interesting and informative to visit even schoolchildren and students (they are not allowed to only taste alcoholic beverages, who are under 21 years old). Since the formation of the company, the winemaking process has not been interrupted. As more modern equipment was replaced, the old one entered the collection of artifacts at the company.
An exposition dedicated to the production of champagne wines, the technology of fermentation and bottling of products, barrels, bottles of the House de Castellane.
After harvesting the grapes, it is poured into a special device for squeezing the desired juice. Next, this grape juice is poured into barrels for fermentation. This is how, manually, champagne was bottled from barrels for the further technological process of its “aging”.
Champagne cork section.
High pressure machines corked the champagne with a cork for a further phase of the complete “assembly” of the product. Continuation of the “cork making” exposition in the technological hall. For corks, a special tree is used, also presented in this room. In addition to the cognitive and general developmental component, a tour of this exposition also has a very practical meaning. It’s no secret that buying expensive “French” champagne in some supermarkets in Russia does not guarantee that it is real, and not bottled at “small Arnaut” :-). One of the signs of NOT real champagne is the NOT correct cork. The real one, made from the right wood with a complex technological “pressing in”, is a big problem for manufacturers of the “left” type of alcoholic beverages. Even having briefly studied such an exposure, you can better understand how to distinguish the real from the fake, from which you can even get poisoned (!). Actually, any self-respecting businessman is simply obliged to know such things both for the prestige of the company (buffets, presentations), and even for their own safety. Recent cases of Russian citizens being poisoned by alcoholic beverages are a clear example of this.
Showcase of de Castellane branded packaging with foil bottle necks. Such museums must be visited by all owners of branded wine and vodka stores, supermarket management and, of course, “comrades” from the authorities that check the quality of alcoholic products. A typical trip from Paris for one day to Champagne-Reims is carried out with a guide who tells the history of the region and serves as a translator from French, but… If you are planning to purposefully go on a special excursion for specialists in order to get acquainted with the technological process of winemaking, champagne production, where there are a large number of “special terms”, then, of course, it is better for you to inform in advance, and instead of a guide -guide (? or additionally) to take a professional translator into the car with knowledge of technical terms in the field of winemaking. But statistics show that the knowledge of the French language of an ordinary attendant is quite enough for the concept of a technological process.
Exposition of the museum “Epernay – the Capital of Champagne” or “Country of Champagne”. Real vineyards can be seen on the road to Epernay. All Champagne is covered with different grape varieties. These are the kind of workers who were engaged in growing and harvesting grapes in this region many years ago. The collected clusters in baskets are delivered for special pressing. It also tells about the formation of the House of Champagne wines de Castellane in Epernay, the construction of access railway freight tracks and the famous Tower. The tower itself has become the “calling card” of Epernay – the Capital of Champagne. Every tourist who comes here by train by rail or by car sees this famous architectural structure. Tourists who come on an excursion see the Tower, usually only on one side, where “Champagne Street” is. From the very foundation of the winery, on the other side, there are access roads (railway) for loading and sending around the world the famous alcoholic drink for ladies and gentlemen.
“Museum of Printing” – the hall of the labels, the printing house and the photo laboratory, everything that was once used in the House of Champagne de Castellane, and now has become artifacts.
Label production, printing and printing equipment.
The colorful design of the bottle in a certain way also affects the commercial success of the enterprise. That is why graphic designers, designers and process engineers in the field of printing equipment worked on the design of labels, logos, drawings. The hall is actually an independent Museum dedicated to the history of design and the process of making bright colorful labels, as well as promotional products – booklets, posters. A visit to this site is recommended both for specialists in the field of printing, and students, future designers or typographic workers as a “practical application” to their specialty. Most of the equipment is in working condition, including printing presses. The printing equipment also included a photo lab, which allows you to enlarge and print images to the desired size.
Historical miniatures and champagne scenes.
Miniatures (not to be confused with dolls for children’s play) have always been a collector’s item, especially in the form of soldiers and officers. Civic life, including scenes of fragments of the history of the beginning of the last century associated with champagne, is a special pride of the collection. The “stage” of these mini-theatres is presented in a very original way. The compositions are placed inside real champagne barrels. Most likely, all this was not intended for the future museums, but was once made for exhibitions and fairs as an advertisement for the champagne of the House de Castellane. Nevertheless, such historical miniatures are still very relevant and can still serve as the best advertisement.
Here are some thumbnail snippets. Collectors, envy 🙂
“Young ladies with champagne” de Castellane. You can also visit such a museum with children who really like such “fragments of living history”. Considering that Epernay is located near the city of Reims, and a standard excursion to Champagne-Reims for one day may include a visit to the car museum (where the same car miniatures are presented), then a family vacation with children very much “fits” into visiting even these “tasting rooms”.
Original own the bottles. Just like branded corks, authentic bottles are a big problem for left-wing champagne producers. A high-quality “authentic” bottle is another sign that you have bought an original French product. Or your business partners at the buffet decided to save money and pass off a fake as real expensive “French” champagne :-). The exposition shows all types of bottles of its products. Branded authentic advertising posters from different times hang on the walls. About the conditions for the “ripening” of champagne, angles of inclination, rotation, etc. are told in detail during a tour of the cellars with demonstrations of real preserved industrial corners of the past and the century before last. These designs, shown in the photo below, were used from bottles at world exhibitions as advertising. The house of Champagne Castellane has won many medals and has been recognized at many international exhibitions. The tour should be of interest to both professional designers and advertisers as an introduction to the world experience of the “trade engine”.
A collection that contains all the Champagne de Castellane stickers from the time of formation to the present day. Champagne labels are also a collector’s item for many antique collectors. Officers and cadets in the Russian army had a different tradition – to stick such champagne labels after a feast in their diaries or notebooks. The practice of sticking champagne labels on invitation cards for various gatherings, parties and anniversaries was widely used. Unfortunately, now this tradition is almost forgotten. It was also very popular to stick labels (large or small, top) on postcards sent to your friends. Perhaps the 21st century will resume the old traditions of postcards with labels, but at the modern level of e-crayon and instagram … Using the example of labels, you can also see how the own style of the House of Champagne de Castellane has changed.
At flea markets, you can sometimes still buy the old labels themselves and even empty old champagne bottles.
Real, old-time champagne de Castellane can be bought by those who wish at periodic auctions, where the House of Champagne puts up for sale some of the surviving stocks.
The Cellar tours: the Winemaking and production, the tours in the basement are carried out in small groups with a guide in French or English. You will get acquainted with the history of winemaking from ancient times to the modern technological process. Photographing in basements and in production is not allowed.
Personal visit experience and reviews.
How to visit Epernay and Champagne House
- Epernay wine tasting, sightseeing or WW1 battlefield private tours to Champagne from Paris and Charles de Gaulle airport by car