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CONTACT Château d’Etoges Tel: + 33 3 26 59 30 08 Fax: +33 3 26 59 35 57 Email: contact@etoges.com www.chateau-etoges.com

Aube en Champagne Tourist Board

Tel: +33 3 25 42 50 00

Fax: +33 33 3 25 42 50 88

Email: bonjour@aubechampagne.com www.aube-champagne.co.uk

Champagne’s delicate bubbles are symbolic of love, joy and union – just a single, sparkling sip is so often a tantalizing prelude to passion and promise. French historian Geneviève Dévignes declared it an ‘inseparable companion of joyous heavenly events, crown of festivities and special celebrations... symbol of friendship... holy dedication to love’, a sentiment shared by friends and lovers across the globe. In no place is this affection greater than in France’s fabled Champagne Country where 270 local producers create the finest fizz on the planet. Yet far from the pretentious grandeur of Reim’s Rue de Champagne lie clusters of tiny, family-owned small producers in vine-trimmed, cobbled villages set amidst sunflower fields. The region’s rich soil nurtures carpets of vines laden with fruit that sweep down to verdant wildflower meadows. Deep forests rim a succession of plunging, steep-sided valleys famous for their Grand Cru vineyards and impeccable Pinot Noir grapes.

Few settings in Champagne are as resplendent as the Château d’Etoges, a magnificent, turreted 17th-century former staging post for journeying French monarchs and nobility. Enchanting sparkling fountains, swan-filled moats and sumptuous, Chandelier–filled drawing rooms have played host to Louis XIV and Napoleon’s courtiers. Now, family-owned for over a century, the Château d’Etoges continues to uphold the tradition of a Royal welcome, rolling out the red carpet for every honoured guest. Grand, grey-stone towers sit amongst expansive formal gardens dotted with neat hedges, whilst a pretty surrounding village of winemakers and vineyards ensures the famous Côte des Blancs is always close at hand. Keen for a bubble-filled kick from Champagne? Then look out for a signs reading dégustation, for a tongue-tingling tasting session extraordinaire. Choose from a lavish, Champagne-sipping soirée or a simply opt to share a bottle on the bobbing waters of the moat in a rowing boat for two. Pop a cork at sunset for a romantic sortie as you glide under low-lying bridges overlooked by round towers and soaring steeples.

Put the fizz back at the gorgeous Château d’Etoges.