Taittinger is one of the few grand Champagne houses that remains family-run and welcomes guests into its cellars. Visitors can take a walk through history at the Louis Quinze château in Pierry, near Epernay, and explore the Gallo-Roman cellars in the Champagne capital of Reims. The Champagne house produces an archetypal range of white and rosé Champagnes (vintage and non-vintage), all imbued with a deep heritage.

The Château de la Marquetterie was built in 1734 and once belonged to French author Jacques Cazotte, who entertained the likes of Voltaire and André Chénier during harvest season. It was acquired by Pierre Taittinger in the 1930s, and today, his great-granddaughter Vitalie and her brother Clovis run the estate.

The cellars are dug deep into fourth-century chalk quarries and sprawl beneath the remains of the Saint-Nicaise Abbey, built in 1229 by Benedictine monks. Private tours of the cellars take visitors 18 meters underground via a spiral staircase. The labyrinthine cellars are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and visitors can see graffiti left along the walls by soldiers and refugees who sought shelter there during World War I. Guests may also glimpse the riddlers at work, performing the age-old practice of hand-rotating inverted bottles of Champagne to collect sediment in the neck of the bottle. Bespoke tastings are led by sommeliers in the Taittinger lounge.

Taittinger produces its range from 288 hectares spread across 37 crus, with Chardonnay dominating the range. The flagship ‘Comtes de Champagne’ is a Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) aged for ten years in those famous cellars. ‘Les Folies de la Marquetterie’ is exclusively produced from the vineyard surrounding the château, using only the first press juice from the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir plots, aged in a bottle for five years.