Two Days in Champagne

Champagne had been on my list for years — the kind of place you assume you’ll get to “someday” and then suddenly you’re there, standing in a vineyard at sunrise with your dog, wondering why it took you so long.

We based ourselves for two days in the heart of the region, and I want to be upfront: what follows is the highlights reel, not a rigid itinerary. Champagne deserves to be wandered, not scheduled. But if you go, these are the stops I’d tell my best friend not to miss.

Where it started: sunrise over the vineyards

The single best moment of the trip happened before we’d done anything at all. We stayed at Loisium Wine & Spa Hotel, and our room looked straight out over the vineyards. Every morning, Sally claimed the sunrise spot — planted herself in front of the window, completely still, watching the light come up over the vines. I filmed her one morning, just her little silhouette against all that gold, and it’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever captured. What do you think she was thinking about? (I’m going with: “this view is almost as good as a stick.”)

Staying in a wine hotel in the middle of Champagne wine country is the move. You wake up in it. You don’t commute to the experience — you’re already there.

The grand houses

No trip to Champagne is complete without the big names, and they earn their reputations. We walked the Avenue de Champagne — which, if you haven’t been, is exactly as grand as it sounds — and spent time at Moët, wandering the courtyard before a tasting. There’s a reason these houses are famous: the scale, the history, the cellars. Standing in those chalk cellars, surrounded by millions of sleeping bottles, you feel the weight of centuries of craft. It’s humbling in the best way.

At Perrier-Jouët, the garden was a standout — all flowers and green, impossibly pretty — and the tasting included their Belle Époque Rosé 2010, which is as beautiful as the bottle suggests. Some wines you drink; that one you experience.

We also toured the Laurent-Perrier cellars, another deep dive into the chalk tunnels underneath the region. Every house does it a little differently, and honestly, I’d do every cellar tour offered to me. There’s no such thing as too many chalk cellars.

The grower side: Philipponnat and Clos des Goisses

The counterpoint to the grand houses — and my favorite kind of Champagne discovery — is the grower side. At Philipponnat, we tasted through the range and walked Clos des Goisses, their legendary walled vineyard on the hillside. This is Champagne at its most serious and most personal: one estate, one hillside, total obsession.

I’ll confess what I did there: I bought six bottles. Réserve Perpétuelle Non Dosé, Blanc de Blancs 2019, Blanc de Noirs 2020, Cuvée 1522 2019, Cuvée 1522 Rosé 2015, and the Clos des Goisses 2015. They’re being shipped home as I write this, and I have never been more excited about a delivery. When you stand in the vineyard, meet the people, and taste the wine where it’s made — buying a few bottles isn’t shopping, it’s a moral imperative. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)

The in-between moments

What I’ll actually remember most isn’t any single tasting — it’s the in-between. Coffee at Contessa. Sally trotting through cellars and gardens like the world’s most cultured golden retriever. The light in the vineyards at the end of the day. Champagne the drink is wonderful; Champagne the place, at the pace we did it, was something else entirely.

Where I stayed

Loisium Wine & Spa Hotel — a wine hotel set right among the Champagne vineyards. Our room faced the vines, the spa was a dream after long tasting days, and Sally’s sunrise stakeout spot is still the best hotel “amenity” I’ve ever encountered. Genuinely loved it — would return tomorrow.

Next up: a very different France — Christmas in Paris.