This summer, Maison Taittinger is opening its doors! Completely redesigned for a better experience, you will discover the new face of its historic site on the hill of Saint-Nicaise in Reims. The true beating heart of the Maison’s activities, Saint-Nicaise is THE place to discover, visit and taste the Taittinger universe.
To support this reopening, we tell you here, in several episodes, its history and what connects it to the Taittinger family.
Reopening: the new Taittinger experience at Saint-Nicaise
Following extensive renovation work, the Saint-Nicaise site is finally getting ready to reopen its doors and offer a brand-new visitor experience: enotourism, and so much more!
In spaces that have been redesigned to captivate the visitor in every sense, guests can experience champagne in all its many aspects: the history and winemaking process, of course (via a visit to the cellars), but also the art and gastronomy it pairs so well with. The experience is a way for the Maison Taittinger to share its tastes and values, but also to create a greater sense of intimacy in its visitor relations.
This new experience will project visitors into the world behind the House: a window on the 288 hectares of vines spread across the Champagne region, a descent into the Gallo-Roman cellars, an introduction to the creative process of blending, an ode to gastronomy echoing the ArsNova Prize for signature cuisine (formerly known as “Le Taittinger”), and a space for the arts, of which the Taittinger family are fervent supporters. “What we’re offering the visitor,” explains Vitalie Taittinger, “is a chance to step into the heart and culture of our family: the stories passed down to us, the art we enjoy, the music we listen to…the delicate world around us that guides us in the composition of our cuvées.”
Exposed cellars
The original building retains the patterns and styles so representative of the Art Deco era, while beneath its feet lie the invaluable cellars, plunging down to 18 metres below the surface. The outside areas have been resurfaced with tiled concrete, and in the coming months the gardens will invite visitors to contemplate their surroundings. The gardens are currently being landscaped, and will reveal themselves as an extension of the House’s style; a botanical manifesto of Taittinger’s inimitable elegance.
The interior has been redesigned, illuminated, and enhanced around a central atrium, offering stunning brightness via its five “exposed cellars” drawing natural light from the ceiling. At the tip of the atrium, a contemporary stained-glass window occupies pride of place. Designed by the Simon-Marq studio, it pays homage to Corinne Deville, an artist from the Ardennes and grandmother of Vitalie Taittinger, the House’s current president. “We started with an extract from one of her artworks,” explains Sarah Walbaum, artistic director at the Simon-Marq studio. Each brushstroke has been recreated in stained glass. Rather than fitting the pieces together with lead, we opted to use glass fusing; the pieces are then affixed to a huge base layer of back-lit glass.”
Concept store
The atrium is the central feature of the redesign. It offers a space for strolling, for displaying art and for wine tastings around the grand central bar, and acts as a transitional crossroads between other areas: a lounge where guests can enjoy wine pairings designed by M Réceptions, a cultural space conceived in the style of an artists’ workshop, VIP spaces, and a boutique where guests can treat themselves or someone else to a gift.
Named “Chromatique”, this concept store showcases the range of Taittinger champagnes on one side, and Comptes de Champagne prestige cuvée champagnes on the other. The store’s central area presents items bearing Taittinger designs, along with books on cookery, culture and heritage, as well as craft items (selected by the House) from top artisans and creators, such as ceramics by Lauriane Payer from the Atome studio.
Coming in 2025: the Taittinger restaurant
In 2025, Taittinger will be extending its guest experience to encompass gastronomy. Expanding into a “peristyle” porch at the top of the garden, the Polychrome restaurant will continue the theme of assemblage (blending), so passionately expressed throughout the rest of the visitor experience. For the vertical screens between the tables, artist Sarah Walbaum was tasked with producing large leaves in hand-blown glass, drawing inspiration from her own work entitled Paysages (“Landscapes”).
“I set out to play on the blending of shapes, colours and textures so that the finished whole evokes the geography of the Taittinger vineyards.” Here there is an art to everything, and dining is no exception. “Now, everything has been designed so that the visitor feels at ease, and can take their time,” concludes Vitalie Taittinger. “This was our mindset when creating the restaurant; for it to be a place where you can really settle in. But there’s also the idea of remaining an open house, where people can drop in spontaneously, where there’s always something to do and something on offer.”