St. Martin cellars

The seven founders of the Saint Martin cellars were marketing visionaries.

Well over a century ago, these pioneers already had a clear plan to promote sales of their wines through tours of the estate.

It worked: soon after opening in 1921, the winery developed into one of the nation's sightseeing highlights.

No wonder then that its doors open directly to the eponymous cellars.

Its barrels and countless bottles do indeed lie in the semi-darkness of subterranean passageways that have been laboriously carved into the limestone cliffs of the Mosel banks.

Even today, fans of the ‘méthode traditionelle’ (traditional method of sparkling wine production popularised in Champagne) will be hard pressed to find a more fascinating place to learn the details of the process.

Warm clothing is recommended for the tour, as the tunnels maintain a constant 12 degrees along their entire kilometre of length.

But that long walk is ultimately well rewarded: each tour naturally concludes with a tasting of Saint Martin wines and crémants.