New boutique property Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa promises to shake up the traditional French wine-growing region, says Liz Ryan.

The limpet-encrusted bottles smell of the sea, and remind me of simple family holidays spent paddling around seaweed-strewn beaches and rock pools.

But - wake up! - I'm nowhere near the sea. I'm 150km east of Paris at the champagne house of Leclerc Briant in Epernay, close to the Belgian border. And the bottles, far from being the booty of some ancient shipwreck, have just spent 15 months at a precise depth of 60-metres off the French coast, enjoying their second fermentation under conditions of constant pressure and temperature.

When I taste the wine - it is called L'Abyss - I am blown away by its complexity.

I'm here as a guest at the newly opened Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa. The exquisite 49-room complex, perched on a hilltop 10 minutes' drive from Epernay, belongs to Leclerc Briant's owners, Boston-based financier Mark Nunnelly and his wife, Harvard academic Denise Dupre.

They noticed something was missing in these UNESCO World Heritage hillsides, which the locals optimistically refer to as 'les montagnes'. Eager to fill a gap, they bought and redeveloped an existing 19th-century hostelry to create the region's first hotel with a destination spa.

Breaking with tradition

Back in 2012, the couple - both wine enthusiasts, naturally - purchased the small and struggling negociant Leclerc Briant, and gave 'biodynamic' wine-maker Herve Jestin free rein to explore methods of bio-dynamism, an extreme form of organic farming rooted in the teachings of Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner. Jestin's kooky experiments include undersea ageing, barrels in the form of giant terracotta eggs, and a stainless steel barrel that has been lined with gold.

Although laying down wines under the sea is nothing new, it is a radical departure for the champagne region, where roaring commercial success has arguably led to sleepiness in the matter of innovation.

But now a revolution is gathering pace in the chalky mountains of the Ardennes, and it's largely down to Nunnelly and Dupre.

A sense of style

The people of Epernay watched anxiously as architect Giovanni Pace's modernist construction took shape on the site of their much-loved but sadly rundown watering hole. They needn't have worried.

Designed to complement rather than dominate the landscape, the low-rise hotel has been built with locally quarried quartz and lots of glass, resulting in an airy feel.

Pace's glass-and-quartz design is immediately soothing. My private balcony affords a stunning panorama of vineyards, while also being shielded from the eyes and noise of other guests.

"That's Taittinger," explains the concierge, pointing through the window, "and there is the village of Hautvillers (pronounced Oo-vil-ay), where friar Dom Perignon invented champagne."

Harmonious champagne colours dominate the interiors with recurring vineyard motifs, and the signature imprint of a tiny horseman pays homage to the fact that this was once an overnight stopping place for French kings on their way to be crowned in nearby Reims.

Drinking bubbles surrounded by bubbles

The spa here is, as you'd hope, heavenly. There are nine treatment rooms, Jacuzzis, a sauna and steam bath, and a private two-person suite for couples. Biologique Recherche-trained beauty therapists, in demure dove-grey uniforms, pad softly around the pool area (there are two pools - indoor and outdoor), fetching drinks and towels and ensuring relaxed guests feel completely looked after. I enjoy a gentle facial that's so soothing, I fell asleep.

A menu with fizz

The wine list here is not just about Leclerc Briant. Unassuming sommelier Daniel Pires, recruited from the Michelin-starred Le Laurent in Paris, has curated a list that ranges from the Tizer-ish poppy delight of Fleury Rose De Saignee Brut to the steely perfection of zero-dosage Pol Roger Cuvee Pure. (Since fizziness usually derives from adding sugar to the second fermentation, creating a food-friendly champagne without added sugar demands skill and nerve.)

Two Michelin-starred chef Jean-Denis Rieubland creates the meals. Previously at the Hotel Negresco in Nice, he presides over Le Royal and the more relaxed Le Bellevue, a bar-and-bistro area which spills effortlessly onto a roof terrace planted with roses and organic herbs.

Those who tackle the Royal's signature menu would be well advised not to gorge themselves on the delicious bread and butter. Because that first plate, which your darkly handsome waiter places in front of you, is not the first course. It is not even the amuse-bouche. Not yet. It is the frivolite, presented in a friendly but purposeful atmosphere as together we gear up for a Napoleonic battle with the many spectacular courses to come.

The final dish of the onslaught consists of chocolate layers over praline, sprinkled lightly in gold dust and crowned with the tiny image of a horseman, a fitting link between this building's prestigious past and a very exciting future.

How to get there

Doubles start from E485 (currently approx £435) per night. Visit royalchampagne.com or relaischateaux.com/gb. The hotel is a 35-minute TGV train journey from Gare de L'Est Paris, a 30-minute flight from Charles De Gaulle Airport, and a 15-minute drive to the hotel from both the airport and Epernay train station.