The largest Champagne house, founded 1743 in Epernay and owned by LVMH, with 28 km of chalk cellars on the Avenue de Champagne and the Dom Perignon prestige cuvee.
Tasting: Guided cellar tours and tastings in French or English; book in advance, the cellars reopened after renovation.
Signature wines: dom-perignon, moet-imperial-brut
Tip: The Dom Perignon prestige label is produced here and released only in declared vintages.
Family-owned Epernay maison founded 1849, Winston Churchill's favourite Champagne, with cool, deep cellars and a prestige cuvee named in his honour.
Tasting: Visits by appointment; family house on the renamed Epernay street, formerly rue Henri Lelarge.
Signature wines: pol-roger-brut-reserve, pol-roger-cuvee-winston-churchill
Tip: The street was renamed rue Winston Churchill in 2025; older sources still say rue Henri Lelarge.
Epernay house founded 1811, owned by Pernod Ricard, known for the Art Nouveau anemone bottle of its Belle Epoque prestige cuvee and a Chardonnay-leaning style.
Tasting: Belle Epoque Society tastings and visits at Maison Belle Epoque; reservation required.
Signature wines: perrier-jouet-belle-epoque, perrier-jouet-grand-brut
Tip: The anemone bottle was designed by Emile Galle in 1902 and revived for Belle Epoque in 1969.
The oldest wine house in Champagne, established at Ay in 1584 and now based in Epernay, owned by Renaud-Cointreau and known for blocking malolactic fermentation.
Tasting: Visits to the Epernay house and its classified one-hectare park, open to the public since 2021.
Signature wines: gosset-grande-reserve-brut, gosset-grand-blanc-de-blancs
Tip: Gosset began as a still-wine producer in 1584, long before sparkling Champagne existed.
The official champagne training programme of the Comite Champagne, based at its Epernay headquarters, with online and in-person courses on terroir and styles.
An Epernay family operator running three-hour champagne tours in vintage Citroen 2CV and Renault 4L cars, with a tasting in the vines and a cellar visit.
Each December the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay transforms into a stage of illuminations, video mapping, champagne bars, a vintage-car parade and fireworks. A Saturday gastronomy session, Habits de Saveurs, pairs Michelin chefs with growers.
Tip: The festival is free with no ticket needed; the two evening shows on Friday and Saturday on the avenue are the highlight.
The 66-metre de Castellane tower in Epernay houses a Museum of Champagne Tradition, a printing museum and a label room, with a 237-step climb to a panorama.
A three-hour My Vintage Tour Company experience through the vineyards in a classic Citroen 2CV, with a tasting in the vines, sabering and a cellar visit.
An Epernay house with biodynamic roots reaching to the 1960s, Leclerc Briant has been certified organic since 2004 and biodynamic since 2008. Oenologist Herve Jestin works without intervention, and the estate farms 13 hectares of mainly Grand and Premier Cru sites biodynamically.
Tip: The Abyss cuvee is aged under the sea off Brittany; taste it beside the standard range to see what biodynamics plus ageing does.