Champagne tasting-- small cellars/producers to visit?

I did a great tour with Cris-Event tours and they took us solely to small producers. They were all in and around Haut-Villers. It sounds like you want to drive yourselves so this may not work but some of the houses were quite small and only offered visits through organized tours. The tasting pours were very generous but that could have been because we were on a Cris-Event tour and had a driver but at the end of the tour, there is no way I would have driven myself anywhere.

Tastings are usually 1/2 glass per wine, anywhere from 1-4 wines per cave. Be very careful about tasting and driving - French blood alcohol levels are about 1/2 what they are in the US, at 0.5% - about one glass of wine.

If you have a rental car, you are supposed to have an alcohol test thing in the car.
I'd go on a tour, that way, you won't have to worry about driving.

Here is a list of houses that you might find interesting:
www.champagne.fr/en/discovering-champagne-region/tourism/champagne-wine-trails

We spent the day touring and tasting in Reims in 2015 going to two of the larger houses, but by far our favorite tour and tasting was at G. H. Martel. Much more intimate tour, and the tastng was so delightful we still talk about it each time we drink champagne! We are headed back to Paris in November and considered another trip to Reims JUST to visit Martel again. If you do go, don’t make the mistake we did and only buy a few bottles. We greatly regretted not purchasing much more to enjoy on the rest of our trip and to ship home. http://www.champagnemartel.com/

If you decide to go to Dom Ruinart, be aware that the "crayeres" will be closed for maintenance from November 2017 to March 2018.

Thank you for all the responses. I wasn't aware of the difference in alcohol levels for driving. We thought of driving as we will have our two children with us and I know tours are often not keen on having kids along for group tours. We may see if we can hire a taxi for the day.

We visited the Bordeaux region in 1985. It was not like CA - few tasting rooms at that time. I decided that only a tour would get you in to many of them.

We loved our visit to Martel in September, but their caves are no longer open for tours. However, the manager did a lot more than just pour, sitting down to chat with us in comfortable chairs and sharing details about everything we tried. I also wish we could have bought more bottles as they ship very little to the US and probably not their amazing stuff. I think that's because, judging on the amounts guests before us were buying, they don't have much left. We visited Taittinger for their cave tour, and if children are allowed, yours might find this interesting. I couldn't find anything about children on their website, so you'd need to contact them. They are about 2 blocks from Martel in Reims, so it's easy to do both.

As to buying wine to take back to the US, I understand the interest. However, it's a total pain in the butt. You have to either ship directly or carry the bottles with you. If you carry the bottles, it's simply going to dominate your entire outlook on the trip. I have bought wine, and in the pre-9/11 day, tried to carry the case of wine on board with me. Needless to say, this was not successful. Instead, I packed the wine with my stuff. One very deep red bottle broke. So, buy to drink, not to put up, unless you are flying your own plane.

We have done wine tours in Italy and are familiar with carrying or shipping back cases, that part doesn't concern me. I think I am just most concerned about the best way to get around to the smaller cellars if driving ourselves is not a viable option. Any recommendations?

If you stay in Reims, you can walk to many or take public transportation.