In 1858, Eugène Mercier created the Mercier champagne house and dug 18km of galleries. For the Universal Exhibition in 1889, he decorated a giant 34t barrel with a capacity of 215 000 bottles, which is nowadays displayed in the middle of the visitor welcome centre. Following a spectacular descent by panoramic lift, the visit of the cellars is by automated train, through galleries decorated with sculptures carved out of the chalk by the Châlon artist Navlet.