Region
Champagne
The Champagne with its beautiful landscape is a historical province in northeastern France, which today forms the western part of the Grand Est region.
The region is strongly agricultural, almost 60% of the area is used for agricultural purposes.
In the cultivated wine-growing regions, around 35,000 hectares are cultivated by over 15,000 champagne winemakers.
The special climate of Champagne benefits from the continental and maritime weather influences. With regular rainfall, it guarantees saturation of the predominantly occurring limestone soils. At the same time, these store enough water to supply the vines with sufficient water even and during prolonged drought.
Champagne, which has been legally protected since 1927, is guaranteed by the designation of origin AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlée) an outstanding quality of the products, which from the umbrella organization Comité Champagne is protected and controlled.
– In the south
Côte des Bar
In the region of Côte des Bar in the south of Champagne, Pinot Noir is predominantly grown with an area of around 8,000 hectares.
A large part of the harvest is bought up by the big champagne houses.
Die drei Champagner-Rebsorten teilen sich auf in 80% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay und 5% Pinot Meunier.
– small but fine
Côte des Blancs
Côte des Blancs is the smallest of the four Champagne regions. This cultivation area covers around 3,000 hectares in which the coveted Chardonnay grape has a share of 95%. Therefore, the density of top winemakers in this region is particularly high.
Many important champagne houses own vineyards in Côte des Blanc and also have businesses there.
The Union Champagne in Avize, for example, is the largest producer in this region with a share of over 40%.
? Épernay als Hauptstadt
Montagne de Reims
The region of Montagne de Reims extends over the hills between Reims, Épernay and the surrounding vineyards and includes the 530 square kilometers large natural park, which was founded in 1976. With a cultivation area of 8,000 hectares, the grape varieties Pinot Noir 40%, Pinot Meunier 40% and Chardonnay 30% are grown.
? Das größte Gebiet
Vallée de la Marne
The Vallée de la Marne is the largest of the four Champagne regions and is shaped by the Marne River, which flows through the area from east to west and delimits the region south of Épernay. In this region is the proportion of Pinot Noir the biggest and closes over an area of approximately 350 hectares. In the west of the region one can find increasingly Pinot Meunier. The proportion of Chardonnay plays a smaller role here.