Champagne (wine region)

Approved growing area for champagne in France .

Vineyards in the valley of the Marne near Bonneil

Vineyards of the Côte des Blancs near Vertus

The wine region Champagne is for growing the base wines of Champagne approved area. Its extension was determined on July 22, 1927. It is not identical to the administrative region of Champagne-Ardenne or the historic Champagne landscape , but rather also includes vineyards located in the Picardy and Île-de-France regions . In addition to champagne, there are two small appellations for still wine within the wine-growing region , the Côteaux Champenois and the Rosé des Riceys .

The cultivation area has around 34,000 hectares in five departments : Marne , Aube , Aisne , Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne , with only very small vineyards in the latter two. In 2002 32,710 ha were planted, of which 30,891 ha were in production. It was decided to expand the cultivation area to 357 communities. The approval of the parcels was planned for 2015, champagne grapes can be harvested there since 2017. The 'blueprint' for the expansion was the AOC approval of 30 hectares in the municipality of Fontaine-sur-Ay in 1995 after 13 years of litigation.

The vineyards and wine-growing regions of Champagne have been under the protection of the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2015 .

Climate and soil

With its location between 48 ° and 49.5 ° north latitude, Champagne lies on the northern limit of viticulture. The climate is semi-continental with oceanic influences. The annual rainfall is quite moderate at 650 to 700 mm. The duration of sunshine averages 1,650 hours, a quarter of which is in July and August. All in all, the Champagne climate means that the grapes ripen slowly, which promotes freshness and finesse in the champagne. In addition, a natural alcohol content of 11% by volume is completely sufficient for the base wine, since sugar is added for the second fermentation in the bottle (see bottle fermentation ).

The Champagne is known for its ground Belemnit - chalk . This type of soil from the Upper Cretaceous can be found in the heart of the growing area between the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs . It stores moisture very well and, at the same time, drains excess water downwards. Likewise calcareous soils, but mixed with more clay, can be found in the south of the wine-growing region in the Côte des Bar. They come from the geological formation of the Kimmeridgian from the Upper Jurassic , similar to the area around Chablis . Geologically, the soils in the Marne valley are much younger . They are sandy-loamy and come from the Palaeogene . On average, the slopes there are steeper than in the limestone areas.

Grape varieties

There are essentially three grape varieties grown in Champagne , the choice of which is primarily determined by the soil. The chalk soil with its good water regulation is particularly suitable for the Chardonnay , which makes up 28% of the cultivation area. On the harder and heavier soils of the Montagne de Reims and the Département Aube , Pinot Noir thrives particularly well with a total of 39%. The clay soils of the Marne Valley favor Pinot Meunier , which makes up the remaining 33%.

In 2002 91 ha or 0.3% of the area under cultivation were planted with the other permitted grape varieties, in 2008 officially 86 ha with the white varieties in addition to the Chardonnay (9599 ha). These are the Pinot Blanc (approx. 80 ha) and the almost disappeared grape varieties Petit Meslier (approx. 3 ha), Arbane (approx. 1–2 ha) and the Pinot Gris , which is called Fromenteau (approx. 1 ha).

Zoning

The area is divided into 20 natural regions, each with fairly homogeneous terroirs . These are grouped into six major regions. The largest wineries are in the cities of Reims and Épernay ; the heart of the wine-growing region with the best locations, however, are the regions Verzenay and Bouzy-Ambonnay in the eastern and southern part of the Montagne de Reims, the Côte des Blancs with the towns of Avize and Oger and the Grande Vallée de la Marne around Aÿ . All wine-growing communities classified as Grand Cru are located here (see below).

Greater Region	region	Vineyard area (ha)	Grape varieties
	Massif de Saint-Thierry Vallée de l'Ardre	989 900	Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier 75% Pinot Meunier
Montagne de Reims	Region d'Ecueil Region de Chigny-les-Roses Region de Verzenay Région de Trépail - Nogent de l'Abbesse Région de Bouzy - Ambonnay	1,600 together 2,360 950 1,100	65% Pinot Meunier 45% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir, 80% Pinot Noir predominantly Chardonnay 75% Pinot Noir
Vallée de la Marne	Grande Vallée de la Marne Région d'Épernay Vallée de la Marne (rive droite) Vallée de la Marne (rive gauche) Région de Condé-en-Brie Région est de Château-Thierry Région ouest de Château-Thierry	1,876 1,240 together 5.152 together 2,989	60% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier 75-80% Pinot Meunier
Côte des Blancs	Côte des Blancs	3,150	over 95% Chardonnay
Petit Morin and Grand Morin	Region de Congy-Villevenard Region de Sézanne	1,013 1,382	over 50% Pinot Meunier over 75% Chardonnay
Cote de Champagne	Region of Vitry-le-François	343	Chardonnay
Côte des Bar	Bar Séquanais Bar-sur-Aubois	together 7,099	over 85% Pinot Noir
	Champagne overall	approx. 32,700	38% Pinot Noir, 34% Pinot Meunier, 28% Chardonnay

Classification of the municipalities

Most of the winegrowers in Champagne do not produce their own champagne, but sell their grapes to the large champagne houses or winegrowers' cooperatives . Depending on the quality potential of the vineyards , the grapes achieved different prices in the past. The experience of the grape brokers called Courtiers formed the starting point for the classification of the champagne vineyards on a percentage scale. It was continuously refined and written down in 1911. According to the ratio of the actual to the maximum achievable grape price, all municipalities were rated on a scale from 80% to 100% ( échelle des crus ). Unlike in Burgundy , for example , no further differentiation is made between the individual locations in the municipalities . In some communities, however, there are differences in the classification between red and white grape varieties. In 1999 the determination of grape prices using the percentage method was abolished.

The municipalities classified with 100% may use the designation Grand Cru . Between 90 and 99% of a community is considered a Premier Cru . Of the currently 324 wine-growing communities in Champagne, 17 are classified as Grand Cru and 44 as Premier Cru. The Grand Cru communities with approx. 4,400 ha represent 13.5% of the total vineyard area. In detail these are:

Montagne de Reims		Vallée de la Marne	Côte des Blancs
Ambonnay Beaumont-sur-Vesle Bouzy Louvois Mailly-Champagne	Puisieulx Sillery Tours-sur-Marne Verzenay Verzy	Aÿ	Avize Chouilly Cramant Le Mesnil-sur-Oger Oger Oiry

The following municipalities with a production area of ​​approx. 6,000 hectares (18.3% of the total area) are allowed to designate their crops as Premier Cru (sorted by classification):

• 99%: Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Tauxières-Mutry

• 95%: Bergères-lès-Vertus (white grapes), Billy-le-Grand, Bisseuil, Chouilly (red grapes), Cuis (white grapes), Dizy, Grauves (white grapes), Trépail, Vaudemanges, Vertus, Villeneuve-Renneville , Villiers-Marmery, Voipreux

• 94%: Chigny-les-Roses, Cormontreuil, Ludes , Montbré, Rilly-la-Montagne, Taissy, Trois-Puits

• 93%: Avenay-Val-d'Or , Champillon, Cumières, Hautvillers , Mutigny

• 90%: Chamery, Coulommes-la-Montagne, Coligny (white grapes), Cuis (red grapes), Ecueil, Etréchy (white grapes), Grauves (red grapes), Jouy-lès-Reims, Les Mesneux, Pargny-lès- Reims, Pierry, Sacy, Sermiers, Tours-sur-Marne (white grapes), Villedomange, Villiers-Allerand, Villiers-au-Noeuds, Vrigny.

All other communes in the Champagne growing area belong to the group between 80% and 89% (terroir non classé). Grapes from wine-growing communities with a rating of less than 80% may not be used to produce champagne.

Of the areas under cultivation of the Grands Crus and Premiers Crus, around 45% is Chardonnay, 36% is Pinot Noir and 19% is Pinot Meunier.

If the base wine of a champagne comes exclusively from Grand Cru or Premier Cru communities, this may be noted on the label. Many of the top cuvées from the major champagne houses are made exclusively from Grand Cru sites.

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Antoine Gerbelle: Champagne: extension du domaine de la bulle in: La Revue du vin de France No. 521, May 2008, p. 13
2. ↑ Dominique Chartron: Le vignoble champenois se dit prêt à produire 400 millions de bouteilles in: Les Echos of August 22, 2007
3. ^ [1] Les Echos Online from February 28, 2008
4. ↑ ^{a b c} France (Ed.), Pp. 126-137
5. ↑ Rädle, p. 5 f .
6. ↑ LES CEPAGES BLANCS DANS LE VIGNOBLE (PDF; 13 kB) ( Memento from November 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), statistics on white grape varieties per greater region, part 1, publication of the OFFICE NATIONAL INTERPROFESSIONNEL DES FRUITS, DES LEGUMES, DES VINS ET DE L'HORTICULTURE - ONIVINS for short, as of 2008 (link via Wayback-Machine)
7. ↑ Catherine Montalbetti (ed.): Le Guide Hachette des Vins 2004 . Hachette, Paris 2003, ISBN 2-01-236826-3
8. ↑ Antoine Gerbelle: Les Grands crus de la Champagne in: La Revue du vin de France No. 521, May 2008, p. 37

literature

• Benoît France (ed.): Grand Atlas des Vignobles de France . Solar, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-263-03242-8 .
• Klaus Rädle: Champagne: facts, data, background. Pro Business, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3868053272 .
• Serena Sutcliffe: Great Champagnes. Hallwag, Bern / Stuttgart 1989, ISBN 3-444-10359-X .

Web links

Commons : Wines from the Champagne-Ardenne region  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
• Atlas of the Champagne wine region (PDF; 5.82 MB; French)
• Website of the Union des Maisons de Champagne (French)
• Website of the Syndicat Général des Vignerons de la Champagne (French)