Jarnac-Champagne: Winegrowing, Culture and a Cycling Route

Jarnac-Champagne combines winegrowing associated with Pineau des Charentes and Cognac, historic churches and a challenging mountain biking route. If you’re looking for hotels in the area, first consider which of these interests will shape your trip. Options include visits and tastings, architectural details, or a cycling tour with a clearly specified distance and duration.

Winegrowing and Experiences

Domaine des Tonneaux covers 50 hectares in the Charente winegrowing area, in Petite Champagne near Jarnac-Champagne. Since 1850, experience and expertise related to Pineau des Charentes and Cognac have been passed down through six generations. The estate’s size and history offer two different perspectives: its winegrowing setting, on the one hand, and the experience with these products passed down through the generations, on the other.

The Domaine offers year-round visits to the distillery and ageing cellars, as well as tastings of Pineau and/or Cognac, by appointment. A visit therefore requires an appointment; details may change.

Other products also form part of the local agricultural scene: the carrot known as «carotte des chefs» and the Crapaudine beetroot variety are grown in Jarnac-Champagne. Agriculture here thus extends beyond Pineau and Cognac to include two specifically named vegetable products.

Churches and Architecture

The Église de la Transfiguration is a church dating from the 12th and 19th centuries. Its nave is flanked by two aisles, separated by square piers with large round arches. Both the layout of the church interior and the forms of its piers and arches are therefore key to understanding its architecture. The description of the two aisles can also be distinguished from the church’s dating: one concerns its interior layout, the other its connection with two centuries.

If you include culture and architecture in your travel plans, the church offers specific features to look out for: the aisles, the square piers and the large round arches. These details complement the building’s history with a description of its spatial layout.

Cycling Route and Leisure

The difficult mountain biking circuit No. 18, «Circuit des distilleries», is 50.5 kilometres long, takes about five hours and has 272 metres of positive elevation gain. These figures answer different planning questions: the distance describes the route’s length, the approximate duration indicates how much time to allow, and the elevation figure gives the positive elevation gain. Together with its difficult rating, they make for a challenging cycling itinerary rather than just a short loop. Plan your time accordingly and check the route details before setting off, as they may change.

Parc Barabeau has a pond, children’s play facilities, picnic tables, a tennis court and a riding centre. This is a different kind of leisure activity from the longer mountain biking route: several park facilities are listed here, while the circuit is described primarily in terms of distance, duration and elevation gain. As the facilities may change, bear this in mind when planning your visit.

Discover more destinations: Cozes, Saint-Jean-D'angély, Dompierre-Sur-Mer, La Rémigeasse, Vergné, Saint-Fort-Sur-Gironde, Brives-sur-Charente, Vert-Bois.

For the regional travel overview: Charente-Maritime.