Champagne, France with Dom Perignon

Hello France!
My first stop was the Champagne region where the worlds' supply of the bubbly drinks come from.
There are many sparkling wines in the world, but to be legally named 'champagne' they must come from this region of France. I've been desperately wanting to visit the area since I love the drink, as most girls do.

Specifically, I visited the Reims (which I cannot pronounce the French way to save my life) where the major champagne producers are. It's got a lot of history and beautiful landscape thanks to the vast green vineyards.

My first stop was the original champagne producer, Dom Perignon. We had a personal tour of his origin and some champagne tasting. In short, Dom Perignon was a monk in charge of producing wine and was a huge factor in today's champagne production. He made wine for religious reasons and during his time, champagne had a bad rep as the 'devil's wine.' The devil's wines were basically wines that has been too fermented and creating bubbles thus exploding upon opening - was one of the major issues during his time. One explosion created a domino effect, destroying up to 80% of all wine stocks thanks to flying corks. He helped convince the public those bubbly wines are not an enemy but friend - a tasty one at that. It worked.

The tour was in the church where Dom Perignon resided and later, passed away in. It has a large courtyard and faces the vast vineyards that can cost up to millions per square kilometer.

Champagne tasting for Dom was in a relaxing courtyard area. I think the landscape and the estate was even more worth the visit than the combination of tasting and the history. There is a lovely wine press wheel turned into a maze garden that is a must for visit. It's absolutely magical in there!

But Dom Perignon isn't considered the best of champagnes. It's easy to book a tour and they sell millions of bottles at nearly every market you see around the world. The rarer and more reputable with champagne connoisseurs is one called Selosse.

Jacques Selosse is a boutique champagne with just one person making about 60,000 bottles per year. You can only have a tour if you stay at his mansion-turned-hotel run by his wife. The 10-room mansion was her family's for years that she has inherited. The champagne cellar and production is all done in the parking lot cave. There's a family dog also that is allowed inside the chef's kitchen area! Homey is the perfect word for this little gem of a hotel.

Reception/champagne tasting

Kitchen with a dog

Dining room

The winemaker himself explaining the wine production

It's literally behind the parking lot.

I didn't get to take photos of the champagne tasting as he was simply pouring his own stash of bottles into our glasses while standing up. Normally the champagnes are made with different grapes, but Selosse is one of the only ones that works with one grape per champagne. It's absolutely delicious and we were lucky to be able to purchase 4 bottles for under $200 each bottle in the nearby markets.