Out here in the leafy Marne valley, a few kilometres south of Epernay, France's de facto champagne capital, the morning light illuminates a lime coloured undulating landscape patched with vines knitted together by a network of chalk lanes. There are no adjoining Champagne houses emblazoned with gold leaf, or quaint but expensive wine-tasting courtyards. Such glamorous quarters complete with some 100 kilometres of subterranean cellars can be found, shoulder-to-shoulder, along Epernay's prestigious Avenue de Champagne.

Whilst in the melange of agricultural toil and vision, the only hint of grandeur are the plain white road markers, much like the old mile distance road markers of yesteryear, which mark the vineyard boundaries and provide the names of the vineyard proprietors. We find a Moët et Chandon marker, a De Castellane marker and then on our right, the Mercier marker.

Cathedral of Champagne
The Champagne house of Mercier is indeed the reason for our visit. A pioneering and brilliant entrepreneur, who can resist being enthralled by Eugene Mercier's fearless, inspirational and visionary activities that paved the way to the modern day Champagne business model.

In 1858, at the tender age of 20 years, Eugene Mercier founded his Champagne House. By 1870, he had conceived a plan to build a giant vat with a capacity for 1600 hectolitres. Mercier travelled to Hungary to personally select the 150 oaks to be used in the construction of the vat. It took 11 years to build and although built to facilitate large-scale assemblage, Mercier had grander plans for the vat.

Referred to as a 'communication genius', Mercier decided to use the vat to advertise his Champagne to the wider public. He took the vat to the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris. As Mercier himself recorded: "It took eight days, 12 pairs of oxen and 18 horses to transport this 21-ton 'Cathedral of Champagne' from Epernay to Paris", and once there a few homes and streetlights had to be demolished to enable the vat to travel along the narrow road to Paris.

The vat received wide acclaim and successfully advertised Mercier Champagne to the masses, but unfortunately came second to the Eiffel Tower as the prime exhibit in the World Exhibition. When we arrived at the maison Mercier we are received by this fabulously outrageous "Cathedral of Champagne" from where it sits, in pride of place in the entrance hall.

Never without an idea, Eugene Mercier implemented significant technological innovations to optimise his champagne production and shipment of bottles. This included lighting his cellars and warehouses with electricity powered by steam machines, using a high-turnover bottle rinsing machine and installing lifts to access the offices and cellars. In 1871, he instructed his architect to design his subterranean cellars. He is purported to have exclaimed: "Count in kilometres, not metres," resulting in 18 kilometres of cellars buried a full 30 metres below ground level. His unique design produced a single-level cellar, which because of the topography of the hill in which it was built, opens out at the Paris-Strasbourg railway line.

Champagne on the rails
The Paris-Strasbourg line proved invaluable to Mercier's advertising campaign and Champagne distribution. The excavation of the cellar tunnels produced 280 000 tons of chalk (40 times the weight of the Eiffel tower!!!) which the railways needed to maintain and extend their lines. In return for his chalk, the railways agreed to transport Mercier's Champagne at no cost on the passing trains. Mercier also arranged for passing trains to stop at his cellar and fill up with water and supplies whilst rail guests enjoyed cellar tours and Champagne tasting.

Dom Perignon The monk Dom Perignon is usually attributed with the invention of Champagne. However, whilst he certainly made significant contributions to Champagne production, including being the first person to successfully bottle and cork Champagne, there are pre-Dom Perignon records of Champagne production. The Widow Cliquot is attributed with the inventing the riddling process that eliminates the cloudiness in Champagne.

By 1885, the Mercier cellars were hosting accompanied tours and Champagne tasting to the public. Passing through the corridors and cellars of the maison Mercier we could sense the heady, crowded presence of genteel 19th century society. Ladies and gentlemen; elegantly dressed, daring ladies hats and men's stiff bow ties, Parisian shoes splashed with Champagne chalk dust; drifts of laughter - loud and faint; mingling flute glasses bubbling with Mercier Brut Rose; strains of impish music; a belch of steam from the Paris-Strasbourg train.

Mercier, we learn from his pioneering advertising film — a documentary called 'From the grapes to the coupe' — screened at the 1900 World Exhibition to an estimated three million visitors, was not one to be discouraged by his second prize in the 1889 exhibition. In 1900 he combined the screening of this advertising film with trips over Paris in the Mercier hot air balloon, ablaze with Mercier advertising.

Into the cellar
After watching this historical documentary we were invited on a cellar tour via the lifts. Upon entering the lifts we soon discovered we had entered the divide between fantasy and reality. As we descended, the back of the lift, an illusion of a solid wall, faded away to reveal it as a glass window through which we could view a timeline (complete with modulated voice over) of Mercier Champagnes' rise to success, brought to life with artistically created displays.

Champagne vs. Sparkling wine Only sparkling wines, whose grapes have been grown in the Champagne region then aged and bottled according to strict French standards, can be labelled Champagne. In South Africa, sparkling wine made in the traditional French Champagne method are labelled Methode Cap Classique. Sparkling wine produced by merely adding carbon dioxide bubbles to the wine is labelled Sparkling Wine.

As we journeyed along the old cellar-caverns, decorated by local sculptor Gustave-Andre Navlet, we couldn't help but marvel at Mercier's vision and the efforts of his team. Our guide informed us that the last marketing poll found that seven in 10 French people know the name of Mercier Champagne. Another testament to Mercier's communication genius. This intoxicating mix of genius and daring appears to be hereditary. In 1950, to celebrate the launch of the Renault CV, Jacques Mercier, Mercier's grandson held a 'Champagne Rally' in the subterranean cellars. As the legend goes, not a single bottle of Champagne was broken during the rally.

But is it any good?
No tour would be complete without a tasting and visit to the Mercier shop. We adored the Mercier Brut Rose — described as "Aromas of small red fruit. Powerful, fruity character with delightful finish". The Mercier range also offers five other masterpieces: Brut (Intense with a citric finish), Demi-Sec (Aromas of grapes and dried apricot; hints of honey and spices), Demi-Sec Rose (Intense blackberry and stewed fruit), Vendage (Sophisticated floral changing to yellow peach and biscuity notes) and Cuvee Eugene Mercier (Full bodied, ripe and stewed fruit with citric notes). And yes we did end up buying a few bottles and memorabilia…

Exploring the Champagne tourist route Epernay is approximately an hour's drive from Paris, and makes a wonderful addition to the French holiday experience. Several prestigious Champagne houses can be found in Epernay including Mercier and Moët et Chandon. 'Tours and Tastings', usually take 45 minutes and are available at most maisons at a rate of between €6 and €20 per person (reduced price for children under 12 years). For more information, visit the Epernay Tourist Office or the Champagne Mercier website..