In my previous article about champagne I talked about the city of Reims. It’s one of my two favourite cities I have seen so far in the champagne area. The other one is Epernay. In fact each of the two cities are divided in two parts. One overground and one underground. It seems a little bit strange but the cellars of the champagne-houses are made under the city. In Reims and also in Epernay there’s more than 100 km cellar. It’s amazing if you can and may see these cellars. Some are open for the public, some you can only visit if you get an invitation and some aren’t open at all. If it’s open for public you have to buy a ticket to get in. With the tour you can choose to try some of their champagnes. Of course you pay extra for the champagne(s) you taste. Some of the champagne-houses are real small museums and they can be very beautiful and luxurious designed.
The best sold champagne-brand in France is G.H.Mumm. Overall they are the third best sold in the world. This house belongs to the wine and spirit company Pernod-Ricard (the second largest wine and spirit company in the world).
After I have visited already several champagne-houses in Reims and in Epernay I was recently invited to visit the cellars of G.H.Mumm.
The story of Mumm begins in 1761 when Peter Arnold Mumm (of German origin)
starts as a wine merchant near Cologne. He comes from a long line of barons and knights. When his three sons Gottlieb, Jacobus and Philipp join the business they start to get interested in the Champagne area in France. They saw that the sparkling champagne wines became more famous around Europe. In 1827 the three brothers decided to start a champagne business. They added the eagle of their family-arms to the champagne-name. 
To conquer and secure their new market they called on the help of the ‘De Bary’ barons. The Franco-German family ‘De Bary’ (descended of knights of Tournai) established themselves on the Reims marketplace in 1837.
The three Mumm brothers only wanted the best quality. So they decided to create a privileged partnership with vine-growers situated on the best Champagne terroirs. About a hundred years later these terroirs where renamed ‘grand cru’. Only the best plots in the Champagne-region get this criterion of quality. Around 1840 the Mumm brothers also bought private vineyards.
In 1852 one of the descendants, Georges Hermann Mumm, of the original founder took control of the house. To expand the business he ordered to dig out numerous underground cellars in the chalky rock. He was a very good businessman and he studied oenology and science. In 1876 he trademarked the famous Cordon Rouge name and label. This label became the symbol of the Georges Hermann (G.H.) Mumm champagne-house. The champagne brand became even the wine of kings of Europe. The crown above the eagle in the logo off Mumm was given in 1884 as a Royal Warrant of appointment to supply the Court of Britain. Mumm became the champagne-brand of the English Royal family. 
If you open a bottle of Mumm champagne in fact the people of the champagne-house say: In fact you open a bottle of Cordon Rouge’ not a bottle of Mumm.
Recently the look of this bottle was changed. The famous cordon rouge trademark on the label is now made in the bottle itself. There’s no paper label on it anymore. The bottle has been turned into a real piece of art. I can say that the one I tasted is very fine and nice to drink. If you like architecture and wine-making these cellars are more than interesting. Not one cellar looks alike. In the cellars of Mumm they even held in the last century a short cycling competition of 400 meters.
TO BE CONTINUED…