On the hill above Hautvillers, the rows of vines run straight down to the Marne, and the colour changes with the season: bare, brown and clipped in winter, green in summer and red-gold in October. This is the cradle of Champagne, or at least one of its most famous corners. The Benedictine abbey of Saint-Pierre, in the village, was home to the monk Dom Pérignon in the late seventeenth century, who did not invent the sparkling wine, as legend says, but improved its making and blending, and whose name now belongs to a prestige cuvée.
The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne were added to the UNESCO list in 2015, and the landscape is a working one. Small growers' houses stand cheek by jowl with the great marques, and underneath the chalk, kilometres of cellars hold millions of bottles at a steady cool temperature. The village itself is full of wrought-iron signs, each one representing a grower or a cellar, and it is lovely to walk through.
Riding here is gentle and rewarding. The roads wind between the vines, up and down the slope, with views over the Marne valley and the forested ridge of the Montagne de Reims behind. The surface is generally good, but lorries and tractors are common at harvest time in September, and mud on the road is a hazard. Early morning is peaceful, with mist in the valley and the light slanting through the vines.
The nearest places for fuel, food and a bed are Épernay, a few minutes away, whose Avenue de Champagne is lined with grand houses of the main producers, and the villages of Dizy and Mardeuil. Visits to the cellars often require booking, and since you are on a bike, tastings should be taken with restraint, spitting if you must. Buy a bottle for later and be careful to pack it well. From here the route goes south-west to Fontainebleau, across the plains of Brie, which are fast and flat.