Champagne
Aÿ Champagne Experience
Private Wine Guide · Champagne, France
Credentials
WSET Level 2 · Heritage and cultural-tourism background
Languages
English · French
Tour style
Private · Small group
Isabelle Rousseaux has lived in Aÿ, in the heart of Champagne, since 2008, and was guiding in the region before that. She founded Aÿ Champagne Experience in 2018, bringing a background in law and art history from the Sorbonne and years spent in heritage and cultural-tourism management. She holds WSET Level 2 and a French State transport capacity for wine tourism.
Her work centers on the Grand Cru and Premier Cru family growers of the Côte des Blancs, the Marne Valley, and the Montagne de Reims, the small cellars that rarely receive anyone without an introduction. She also holds a standing authorization from the Hautvillers tourist office to enter the church where Dom Pérignon is buried, which independent visitors cannot arrange on their own. Visits are led by a small team of guide-chauffeurs.
The growers worth the trip in Champagne, the Grand Cru and Premier Cru families who farm their own parcels, rarely keep a tasting room or anyone on staff to receive the public. Reaching them depends on local relationships, and Isabelle has built hers from Aÿ since 2008.
- Grand Cru family growers in the Montagne de Reims who receive visitors by prior arrangement rather than public booking.
- Premier Cru cellars across the Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley, reached through relationships built over years of guiding from Aÿ.
- The church in Hautvillers where Dom Pérignon is buried, a heritage site that needs authorization from the local tourist office and stays closed to independent visitors.
Visits are private or small-group, with the vehicle sized to the party and the day built around family-grower cellars rather than the large houses, which keeps the rooms small and the pace unhurried.
Private and small-group visits · By inquiry
Aÿ Champagne Experience
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This operator was personally evaluated by Michelle Ryan: WSET Level 3, French Wine Scholar, IATA Certified Travel Advisor. Vetting criteria: guide credentials, access to producers not available through public booking platforms, and knowledge intake process. Not every operator we evaluate makes it onto this site.