THE POMMERY ESTATE IN CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE

We took a little side trip to tour the vaults of the Pommery estate. It's 116 steps down this staircase to the wine cellar.

There are 29 million bottles of Champagne in these vaults.

There are also several stone carvings. This one is about 15 meters across.

This locked section of the vault contains the owners' private reserve of the oldest vintages. Look carfully at the signs. You can see dates going all the way back to 1874!

All the tunnels in the Pommery vaults are named after countries or major cities. This was originally done to impress foreign visitors. Since Martin here is from Manchester, taking this photo was practically compulsory.