For 300 years the Champagne Houses have been adding to this exceptional heritage through the commissioning of architectural masterpieces that sing the praises of the King of Wines.
The birthplace of Jean de La Fontaine remains one of the loveliest private mansions in the town of Château-Thierry.
Château de Bligny is the joint headquarters of Champagne Houses G.H. Martel and de Cazanove, built in 1773 on top of the ruins of a feudal chateau. All that remains of the medieval Louis XIII-style castle today is the front door with its finely sculpted grape and vine branch motifs.
Châlons-en-Marne, regional capital of Champagne-Ardennes, holds a special place in Champagne history as the home of the gleuco-œnomètre, a "wine sugar meter" that from 1831 onwards made it possible to control the rate of second fermentation in the bottle. Its inventor was Jean-Baptiste François, a pharmacist and former soldier in Napoleon’s Grande Armée, and his technique became known as the Reduction François.
The Cadoles de Champagne are traditional dry stone huts on the Côte des Bar (Bar-sur-Seine and Bar-sur-Aube), built by winegrowers from the stones that lay around them and used to shelter from the weather in winter and summer alike.