After pickup from your hotel or apartment in Paris, relax in a comfortable, air-conditioned minivan on the short drive to the Champagne region of France. Your small-group tour is guided by a trained sommelier with an extensive knowledge of the Champagne region and its beautiful vineyards.

Your tour will include a visit to three Champagne houses and wineries, but the actual stops will vary according to the day you visit. They may include well-known brands such as Mercier, Pommery or Tattinger, along with smaller, boutique wineries in the Champagne region.

During your tour, learn about the Champagne-making process as you discover the underground chalk cellars where the Champagne is aged. Finish your visit with the day’s first glass of bubbly, and then hop back in your minivan for the drive through the delightful countryside. Your tour may include a stop in Hautvilliers, home to the ancient Benedictine abbey where a local monk by the name of Dom Pérignon (maybe you’ve heard of him?) worked on the creation of Champagne in the 18th century.

For your next stop, head to a small boutique winery that produces high-quality Champagne. After a tour of the winery, taste three different Champagnes and one wine while enjoying a French lunch of cheese and charcuterie (cured meats like sausage and pâté) and admiring the spectacular views of the Marne Valley. In the afternoon, your tour continues to the Premier Crus area, where you’ll visit another boutique winery for your final Champagne tasting of the day. See how the style and characteristics of each producer compare to each other and how the final product varies. You’ll receive three tastings of Premier Crus (a classification of French wine that denotes very high quality) before heading back to Paris.