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History
The Comtesse Lafond developed her family’s wine and château reputation during the nineteenth century. Her great-great-grandson, Baron Patrick de Ladoucette, subsequently used her name for the Champagne cuvées and Épernay château. The producer connects that identity with the wider de Ladoucette wine estates.
A portrait of the Comtesse hangs in the château’s salons. Its painter was Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who lived from 1805 to 1873 and also painted Queen Victoria and European royalty. The work is therefore both a family object and a link with nineteenth-century aristocratic portraiture.
The château stands at 79 avenue de Champagne. Its named spaces include the Cave Comtesse, a château vault, the Comtesse Rosé salon and the Private Comtesse salon. Park and terrace add to the setting. The present house programme places the portrait among these wine-reception rooms, connecting the family’s nineteenth-century image with its contemporary Champagne identity.
The official account identifies the family relationship, the portrait’s artist and the nineteenth-century Comtesse, but supplies no precise founding year for the modern visitor operation. The current wine programme includes Extra-Brut, Blanc de Blancs and Vintage 2014. These are documented present-day cuvées; their names alone do not establish when the château first opened to Champagne visitors.
The Comtesse and her portrait
Her portrait hangs in the château’s salons. It was painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, who lived from 1805 to 1873 and also painted Queen Victoria and other European royal families. The portrait is part of the guided tasting route: the Blanc de Blancs is served in the château in front of it. A precise founding year for the modern Champagne visitor operation is not supplied by these official pages.
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Showroom tasting and the outdoor terrace
The official programme calls the first option “Tasting at the Comtesse Lafond Showroom”. A house sommelier introduces three Champagne cuvées in the boutique/showroom. Its text also mentions the possibility of ending with a still wine from the Baron de Ladoucette estates. The current reservation page supplies the wines and price selected for that session.
The Comité Champagne directory describes walk-in tastings in the reception area and, from May to September when weather permits, on the park terrace. Private discoveries of the Cave Comtesse, château vault, Comtesse Rosé salon and Private Comtesse salon are available by request. These reception and tasting spaces are different from an unrestricted tour of every part of the property.
The cellar-and-château sequence
The official “Visit and tasting in the cellar and in the castle” introduces three Champagnes in three settings. Extra-Brut is tasted in the Cave Comtesse; Blanc de Blancs follows in the château beside the portrait; Vintage 2014 is served in the château vault. The house’s current programme names 2014 specifically, so a different vintage is not silently substituted in this guide.
“Sabrage and tasting in the cellar and at the château” follows the same named three-wine sequence, with a house ambassador supervising sabrage. The producer’s page links the booking route; the tourist office also links its appointed booking listing. The sabrage activity is an organised part of that ticket, not permission to use a sabre independently in the park.
Opening hours and the 2026 winter closures
The producer advertises Monday–Sunday 10:00–13:00 and 14:00–18:00, with closures for private hire. Its current notice closes the estate 24–27 December 2026 and again 31 December 2026–3 January 2027. Those dated closures override general “open every day” wording elsewhere. Contact +33 3 26 32 26 40 or commercial@comtesselafond.com.
The Épernay tourist office’s tasting tariff is €15 for two flutes or €20 for three (checked October 2026). These are tasting-only entries, not the price of the full three-location guided tour or its sabrage version. A duration and matching current price for every guided format could not be established on the house’s own text, so use the official experience booking page for those products.
Buying wines and arranging a private reception
The château boutique accepts purchases and order collection with or without an appointment. The official shop page gives the same Épernay opening periods and directs corporate-event enquiries to events@deladoucette.fr. The family also has a Paris shop at 42 avenue Victor Hugo, which stocks a selection of Comtesse Lafond Champagnes.
A hotel and restaurant in the same Avenue district
La Villa Eugène, listed by the tourist office at 82–84 avenue de Champagne, has 15 rooms, private parking and an outdoor pool on the park side. It is an eastern-Avenue accommodation option for the Comtesse Lafond visit; current room terms and Booking.com links are collected in the stays guide.
Bulles & Bonheur’s restaurant at 73 avenue de Champagne is another named local reservation. Chef Prodip Turi’s five-course menu is listed from €85, with a three-course lunch at €40 (checked October 2026). It opens Thursday–Monday, including Sunday evening. Dinner, accommodation and the Comtesse Lafond tasting are separate bookings.
Access and facilities
The tourist office lists a park, private parking, a meeting room and a reception cellar for up to 60 people. English and French are listed. That reception capacity is not the group size of the guided sabrage ticket, and parking availability does not establish a step-free route through the cellar or château salons. Access questions belong with the estate’s visitor team.
The Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol form one component of the UNESCO Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars property, inscribed in 2015. The other components are Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims and the historic vineyards around Hautvillers, Aÿ and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. The listing links vineyard supply, underground production and the houses’ sales architecture; it does not make every private château interior freely accessible.
For another named stop in this part of the street, Mercier receives visitors at 68 avenue de Champagne with its lift and cellar train. Élodie D. and Bulles & Bonheur occupy 71–73. The Épernay walk puts those entrances into the Avenue route without treating three separate businesses as one ticket.
Château Comtesse Lafond stands at 79 avenue de Champagne, at the eastern end of Épernay’s house-lined avenue. Its current visitor programme separates a sommelier-led showroom tasting from a cellar-and-château visit and a sabrage version. The same estate also hosts private receptions in its vaulted spaces.
Official booking and sources
Open the house’s visitor page for the named venue. Visitor information and quoted tariffs reviewed 23 October 2026.
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