{"id":2724,"date":"2024-07-30T15:15:16","date_gmt":"2024-07-30T15:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2724"},"modified":"2024-07-30T15:41:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-30T15:41:07","slug":"champagne-mercier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2724","title":{"rendered":"Champagne Mercier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the city of \u00c9pernay, there is a famous street called the Avenue de Champagne<\/a>, which Power Tasting has featured in the past.  It is lined with Champagne houses where you can taste all day long.  At the far end, away from the center of town, is Champagne Mercier (www.champagnemercier.com<\/a>).  They may not make the best Champagne in France (we\u2019ll leave it to others to choose which one is) but it is the most popular one in that country.  Considering the combination of quality and price, that\u2019s understandable.  Their top Brut Ros\u00e9 costs about $38 a bottle.  Alas, it can\u2019t be found in the US and wouldn\u2019t be that inexpensive if it were.<\/p>\n\n\n

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However, the price of a bottle isn\u2019t the attraction at any winery, it\u2019s the enjoyment of the visit and the tasting.\u00a0 And here Mercier excels.\u00a0 As you approach the entrance, there\u2019s an antique truck that evidently was once used to deliver Champagne.\u00a0 It\u2019s a way of telling a visitor that Mercier has been around a long time, since 1858 in fact.\u00a0 The current facility was erected in 1871.\u00a0 When you enter, you are confronted with a massive, decorated wine barrel, that holds 200,000 bottles worth of wine.\u00a0 It was built for the 1889 Paris World Exposition.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Viewing the artwork from the train at Champagne Mercier.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The actual visit begins with a tour of the cellars.  Groups are taken together onto a glass elevator that descends slowly down 98 feet.  The walls of the shaft have paintings, to get you into the spirit right away.  At the bottom you are ushered into an open train, sort of like at Disneyland.  It winds its way through parts of the 11 miles of chalk tunnels.  Evidently the founder, Eug\u00e8ne Mercier was concerned about the cultural well-being of his workers, so there are carved works of art throughout the cellars.  And of course you get to see where Champagne bottles are stored, riddled and aged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a recorded guide as you progress through the cellars, which is available in English as well as in French.  Be sure to bring a sweater.  The whole reason for cellaring Champagne is to age it and concentrating the sediments in a stable, cool environment.  Rolling along in an open train, you definitely feel a little chill.<\/p>\n\n\n

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At last, the tasting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At length you return to the surface and have the chance to taste.  Tours include either one or three Champagnes to try.  At this point you\u2019re so eager and thirsty that of course they seem quite good.  It takes some taste memory to summon up how you felt about better-known labels you\u2019ve had in the past (or an hour ago elsewhere on the Avenue de Champagne.  If you wish, you are free to wander around the public area, admiring that big barrel and taking in the modernist interior architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you step outside at last you find yourself in a vineyard.  We think it\u2019s the only working vineyard inside the city limits of \u00c9pernay.  Once you\u2019ve seen the hectares after hectares of vines in Champagne, you may not be surprised by the size of this vineyard, but it\u2019s mere existence is another reminder of what Champagne production must have been more than 100 years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercier is among the most fun tours we have taken at a Champagne house.  It is worth the visit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the city of \u00c9pernay, there is a famous street called the Avenue de Champagne, which Power Tasting has featured in the past.  It is lined with Champagne houses where you can taste all day long.  At the far end, away from the center of town, is Champagne Mercier (www.champagnemercier.com).  They may not make the … Continue reading Champagne Mercier<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2724"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2740,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2724\/revisions\/2740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}