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5 Champagne Wineries to Visit for an Excellent Tasting

Champagne has always been a wine region that was rather high on our list to visit, and we were lucky enough to spend a few days in the region in late 2025 on our way to Alsace to check out the Christmas markets.

Although our time in the wine region was a bit more brief than we otherwise would've liked, we got a chance to visit five truly amazing wineries in Champagne to get our fill of spectacular traditional method sparkling wine.

From classics with world-famous cellars to new gems that redefined what world-class Champagne truly means, we hit a really nice cross-section in these wineries during our visit!

As with all of our winery roundups, this article only features the Champagne houses we personally visited when traveling in the region. We look forward to visiting more in our next trip to Champagne!

Note: Most producers in Champagne require advanced reservations. Some larger houses may have on-site bars for walk-in tastings; however, we booked all of our tastings well in advance. Reconfirm these details prior to visiting as Champagne houses can and do book up in advance.

If you've spent any time going down the rabbit hole of fine Champagnes, odds are good you've heard the name Jacques Selosse.

Selosse is synonymous with some of the finest wines in all of Champagne, and when we say they are highly sought after, we really mean it. Not only are bottles almost impossible to find, when you do, they likely come at a price that will make even the most interested Champagne drinker do a double take.

When we visited Alsace, we were on the lookout for bottles of Selosse and were, unfortunately, turned off by the price point for bottles to bring home. But we did visit the winery's restaurant, Les Avises, for a lunch on Thanksgiving day where we decided to splurge on their solera style Blanc de Blanc, Substance which has its origins dating back to my own birth year- 1986!

Was it the most expensive bottle of wine we've ever purchased? Yes. Are we glad we bought it? Still yes. And are we glad we did tasting notes in the middle of lunch so we could write a review? You know it.

If you've read our wine reviews for a while, we generally always like to say don't sleep on Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc. Yes, we adore the GSM blends of the traditional red Chateauneuf du Pape, but the white blends are always quite the surprise and are regulars in our drinking collection.

Brotte's Les Hauts Barville Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Roussanne and Bourboulenc, and is one of those bottles that disappears quickly.

The Champagne region is full of many famous producers whose names we easily recognize, but never have tried before.

After staring at Moet & Chandon's Imperial Brut at the store for many years, we decided that it was time to finally try this famous wine. After trying this, we do have to admit, we can see why it is popular- although we wish the flavors were as intense as the aromas!

Whenever we think of French sparkling wine, it is easy to go to Champagne.

But there are many other great wine regions producing their own delicious sparkling wines, often referred to as Cremants, using the same methods as Champagne just, you know, not in Champagne.

JC Calvet is one such producer, and makes a beautiful, and affordable, off-dry sparkling wine in Bordeaux from Merlot and Semillon in the 2022 vintage!

Note: It seems this wine has different grapes and blending percentages depending on the vintage.

We've read about Pol Roger Reserve Champagne for many years, and it is always one of those bottles we put off buying due to a slightly higher price point than we'd normally prefer.

When we finally decided to grab one of these, we wondered why it took us so long. Yes, the price can be fairly high, but it is also a rather delicious bottle of sparkling wine!

We take wine recommendations from strangers very seriously.

When we were at an agriturismo in Sicily, we met a lovely couple from the south of France that told us their favorite Provencal rose comes from one specific producer- Domaines Ott. They were adamant about it being the best, so much so that we knew we had to find a bottle.

We were lucky to sample it once at a restaurant, and finally stumbled upon a bottle of the Le Chateau de Selle Rose locally and picked it up despite its high price tag. Although we'll be the first to admit that the price we paid was a bit more than we would've preferred, this was quite the tasty rose!

Sometimes a bottle of wine is so good that we immediately go out and buy another one. For Domaine de L'Enchantoir Terres Blanches, a beautiful Chenin Blanc from Saumur, this was just the case.

Well, sort of. This one was an instance of Angie opening the bottle of wine while I was out of town, regretting having it on her own, and buying it because it was just so good that I had to try it.

After opening a bottle to share, I can safely say, she was absolutely right. This one is a delight!

We always love a good Hermitage, as we're suckers for all Rhone Syrah every chance we can get.

But it is rare that we find an older bottle available at a reasonable price, and we got just that with Cave de Tain Nobles Rives Hermitage 2011. 13 years of age at a reasonable price? We're in!

We always love stumbling upon older bottles in the wild, and when we saw Domaine de Nizas Le Clos from 2013 (over a decade old) available at a local bottle shop, we knew we had to give it a try.

While it is possible that this Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre blend from Languedoc was perhaps past its peak, it still had a great of liveliness in it that made for a delicious pour!

5 Champagne Wineries to Visit for an Excellent Tasting

Jacques Selosse Substance Champagne Review – Incredible

Brotte Les Hauts Barville Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc 2023 Review

Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Review – A Delicious Champagne

JC Calvet Brut 2022 Review – A Lovely Off-Dry Cremant

Pol Roger Reserve Brut NV Review – A Lot Going On

Domaines Ott Le Chateau de Selle Rose 2023 Review – Flavorful Rose

Domaine de L’Enchantoir Terres Blanches Saumur 2022 Review – Buy It Again

Cave de Tain Nobles Rives Hermitage 2011 Review – Aged Syrah

Domaine de Nizas Le Clos 2013 Review – A Beautiful Aged Wine