Opus

Eugène Mercier was a ‘big’ man with life-size ideas that were also useful for publicity, so it was no surprise that the champagne cellars that he built were out of the ordinary. In 1871, he decided to build an authentic underground town. “Count in kilometres, not metres”, were his instructions to the architect in charge of the project. It took six years to excavate the 47 tunnels covering 18 kilometres of single level cellars with a direct connection to the Paris-Strasbourg railway line. Eugène thought of the cellars not just as a facility for champagne production, but also as a place to visit and learn. He opened his cellars to the public as early as 1885. The staff members were given the task to welcome and guide visitors through the cellars. They were able to enjoy the work of local sculptor Gustave-Andre Navlet who had been commissioned to carve high reliefs from the chalk. These tours, which are nowadays an everyday event in Champagne, helped to increase Mercier brand recognition. This was the first time that Eugene Mercier demonstrated his excellent marketing savvy. Among the many famous visitors, which Eugène Mercier warmly received, was the President of France, Sadi Carnot. On 19 September 1871, at half past three in the afternoon, a guided tour by horse-drawn carriage of the torch-lit cellars was made for the President. Eugène Mercier also installed electrical appliances, avant-garde for the time, as well as a steam engine to light the caves and supply power to a network of machines in a number of different workshops.