Château Comtesse Lafond — Attraction in Épernay

Beautiful chateau and grounds. Tasting experience was distinctly disappointing as a likely purchaser. Tasting started with the really quite austere Extra Brut, then offered a choice of which wines to taste next (Blanc de Blancs, Rose, off-dry etc.). The 2009 vintage was offered on the menu but we were told was unavailable and instead the (admittedly better vintage) 2008 was offered. This was fine, but when it came to trying to buy, we were told that they could only find one bottle of 2008 (in place of the case we requested), but they could sell us the 2009 which we hadn't been able to taste! The top Private Comtesse 2005 was also not available for tasting, but could be purchased... but having not been able to taste we were not prepared to spend €60 a bottle on this.

Tasting was of course not free - €15 for two (small) glasses (€20 for three) - which isn't unreasonable. However, having not been able to taste wine they could sell, and only being able to buy wine we couldn't taste (at the upper end of their range), this did...

We went here back in September 2023 and had the Champagne tasting. The setting is beautiful and our host was really helpful in talking us through all of the Champagnes. These were some of the nicest I tasted during my time in Champagne and I can’t recommend it enough.

However it was advertised as a 30 minute booking so we had another booking straight afterwards elsewhere. This is falsely advertised and you actually need more like 90 minutes to be able to try all the Champagnes properly. We had to drink ours very quickly to be able to try them as we explained our booking to our host who apologised and was accommodating.

Definitely recommend going and allowing the time to sit and enjoy your drinks in the...

Family-owned wine house with ties to French aristocracy that drives both the Château's name and their approach to wine. For example, even though we were in Champagne, we received a whole education over our tasting about the Loire region and learned about Napoleon's love of their Pouilly Fumé. The champagne was delicious and they offered a wide variety of styles, including the fabulous 19 gram dosage Nectar. The beautiful house on the property originally belonged to Mr. Mercier (of the champagne house) and is not part of the tour, but it's really interesting to see. Highly recommend a visit and to take your time and enjoy. Also very...