We contracted with Michel in mid February for my husband and I to do a private tour in Champagne on March 22 with a request to visit Veuve Cliquot (my then favorite Champagne House). I received an automated confirmation stating a visit to Pommery would occur but then received a note from Michel asking where we'd like to visit and I requested Veuve Clicquot. Michel picked us up at our hotel in Paris promptly at 7:30 am in his car and drove us to Champagne. Along the way I asked if we were visiting Veuve and he said sadly no, he was unable to make a reservation because the season had just started and visits were already booked-you can probably feel my disappointment (please keep rading)...as we drove north toward Epernay (2+ hours) out of Paris with the rolling hills and naked vineyards coming into view, we made a brief stop for coffee and a bathroom break in Damery. We continued on to Beaumont-sur-Vesle to meet one of Michel's clients, a small Champagne producer who was bottling his small batch Champagne that day (which happened to be a once a year event). We were lucky enough to meet the very friendly vineyard owner and producer Paul Froissart from "Lafalise Froissart Champagne", a small batch Grand Cru champagne house. After briefly watching the bottling process Paul took a moment to talk with us, explaining the grapes he grows, the quality of the terroir (dirt), the 2 step fermentation process/facility & show us his storage facility. Michel then drove us to one of Paul's vineyards where he produced a bottle of "Lafalise Froissart Champagne Maison D'Inities 045" which we tasted, while romantically, standing in the vineyard where Paul grows his pinot noir and chardonnay grapes. Both my husband & I LOVED Paul's champagne! We then continued on to another of Michel's clients, Champagne Gounel Lassalle, another small batch Premier Cru Champagne House in Chigny-les-Roses where we met owners Sophie and Arnaud Lassalle who were both friendly and very welcoming. Sophie took the time on her birthday to share information about their vineyard's, the importance of the terroir's, the organic grapes (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonay) they grow. Arnaud showed us his fermentation processing & storage facility and then explained how they had just finished their 4 month long hand pruning process. We were then offered a tasting of four of their champagnes. Sophie and Arnaud's champagne was distinctly different due to the addition of the Pinot Meunier grape. We fell in LOVE with 2020 Le Haut Belai, which was interestingly a combination of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Both Paul, Sophie & Arnaud are small batch champagne growers and you could feel the love and pride that goes into making their beautiful champagnes. Michel was able to load up the trunk of his car with cases of Lassalle Champagne as we continued on to Reims where we had a very delicious lunch at Cul de Poule including paired wines that Michel chose. After lunch we waited in line to purchase tickets to walk through the Pommery Champagne House middle age old chalk caves where their champagne is stored. After the tour completed we stopped to taste a glass of the Pommery champagne which was sub par given the delightful champage we had tasted eariler in the day from both Lafalise Froissart Champagne Maison D'Inities 045 & Champagne Gounel Lassalle 2020 Le Haut Belai. Michel asked if I still wanted to stop by the Veuve Clicquot Boutique which I mournfully accepted because I wanted to be able to say I had been there. The bottom line is we learned a lot with Michel, much more than we expected. There is a significant difference in the taste of a champagne when the multi-generational owners prunes their own vines, grows their own grapes, hand picks their own grapes, ferments them, bottles and second ferments them, ages them and puts their name on the label of the bottle. The whole process is much more in depth than you can imagine. We are forever more absolute fans of Lafalise Froissart Grand Cru Champagne & Lafalise Froissart Premier Cru Champagne. Michel has permanently educated & changed our champagne drinking choices to those of small batch growers as opposed to large house conglomerates. The bonus is we are able to order champagne directly through Michel. Thank you Michel! Surprising education in Champagne!

Highly recommend this tour with Michel to experience the Champagne region. He is a knowledgeable tour guide - we learned so much during our day together! Loved the experience of trying champagne from two unique wineries. Truly one of our trip highlights! Amazing experience!

Michel is a very knowledgeable tour guide. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire day!Excellent Tour

Michel was a terrific, knowledgeable , and a fun guide. We were two couples that spent the day in the Champagne region with Michel! He took us to a vineyard, commercial winery and a boutique winery. It really was amazing! He even included a “special” lunch for us. I highly recommend this tour and Michel. A Day in Champagne

We are so thankful for Michel. Our previous booked tour through Viator was cancelled so I had to find a new tour at the last minute. We didn't want to typical museum type tour, we wanted a custom, show me the landmarks tour. And add in some wine! We visited Chenonceau Castle, took our photos, then went to a charming village for lunch. After that it was wine tasting time at Domaine Merieau winery. Yummy affordable wines. I may have bought a few bottles. We weren't super needed, but Michel took great care of us! Great guide made the trip fabulous

Michel, was a fantastic guide. This was one of the highlights of our two week trip. He is passionate about wine, Champagne and France in general. He is full of history regarding many topics. We were able to visit a couple of small producers as well as a mega producer with amazing caves. Michel is very accommodating. If there is a specific house you want to visit, make sure you let him know. On top of everything, he helped select a few great local wines for us to take with us. He worked with a local wine shop and had everything ready for us to swing by, purchase and be on our way. He also recommended a great restaurant that was one of our highlights. We accidentally left a passport at the restaurant and Michel took it upon himself to help track us down which avoided a catastrophe. I’m a raving fan….!!!Amazing day

We had a great wine tasting experience with Michel. He helped better learn about what wines are from which regions. We tasted some really great wines and had some good food with the tastings. Michel is very knowledgeable. We had gone on a tour with him to the Champagne region a few years ago, so we knew this one would be another great tour. Stan & HollyA great experience

Michel picked us up from our apartment in the center for Paris. We toured 2 small champagne houses (per our request). We were able to learn the champagn making process from the wine makers themselves. Michel was very knowledgeable and engaging. The cherry on top was a very well thought out lunch. Overall, it’s experience that I’ll remember fondly for years to come. A fun, informative, and unique experience

I thoroughly enjoyed the wineries that Michel took me to back in May. I had a unique request that he pick me up in the Loire Valley and end the tour in Paris (instead of starting and ending in Paris) to which he gracefully complied. The wineries were very nice and his insight into the wines was a great addition. Several points are lost due to his lack of following through with his promise to ship wines. At the end of the tour I left eight bottles with him and a list of ten more from the wineries that we'd visited. He said these would be shipped within 4-6 weeks. This was in the first week of May. By late June, after asking for updates a few times, he said that he had the wines and that he'd send them out shortly. They never arrived. On Aug 1 I asked again and he said he'd send them after the heat wave. Now it is the second week of October and I don't have my wines. He still has the eight bottles that I purchased (about €80). I'm tired of chasing after him to do what he said he'd do. The wines I planned on sharing with my family talking about the tour will never arrive. So, if you do decide to do this tour (which is on the higher end of tour prices), you'll experience several nice small wineries with good insight from a knowledgeable guide. Just make sure to purchase all the bottles you want and ship them yourself. 9/10 for the tour, 1/10 for wine shipment

Michel picked us up at our hotel and we were off the see Champagne. We had some great lessons on the terrain and a lovely albeit foggy at times drive from Paris to the Champagne region. Michel was good about switching plans as it was very foggy in areas that he wanted to share with us. We went to Bonnet-Ponson and had a great tour and tasting of that facility. Then off to lunch, which was a lengthy event (but delicious). Our last stop was in Reims where we went through the very fascinating caves of Pommery. Lots of time in the car and in Paris traffic but all in all a worthy experience.Great day in Champagne