The Champagne region
Find out the wonders of the Champagne wine-growing area
Out and about in Champagne, you can't help but be struck by these fascinating landscapes shaped by its people over hundreds of years
The vineyards
A truly one-of-a-kind wine region
Champagne is a 100% French product. The wine region it comes from is located in France, some 90 miles east of Paris. This is the only place in the world that it is made.
The production zone of the Champagne appellation d'origine contrôlée, whose perimeter is defined by legislation enacted in 1927, covers some 34,300 hectares and encompasses 319 villages, also called "crus".
Nearly 280,000 plots, tended by more than 16,000 growers, make up the area under vine in Champagne! Most of these plots are very small, averaging a surface area of no more than 0,12 hectare (1 hectare = 10 000 sq.m.). That’s barely larger than a tennis court.
Out and about in Champagne, you can't help but be struck by these fascinating landscapes shaped by its people over hundreds of years. Doctor of Geography Raphaël Schirmer said that "A whole civilisation goes into the cultivation of vines". So next time you look out over the Champagne scenery, take the time to appreciate the magnitude of this work. Work which UNESCO has honoured by recognising the Champagne Hillsides, Houses & Cellars as a World Heritage Site.
Champagne, a World Heritage Site
A Champagne wine grower distinguishes not just between growths (‘crus’) but between individual plots, each with its own name and long-established reputation.
Names redolent of history and tradition - ‘Les Soupe-Tard (late diners), ‘Les Gouttes d’Or (drops of gold), les ‘Froids Monts’ (chilly peaks) to mention but a few...
Each plot is worked in accordance with its own specific profile, to create a wine that bears the stamp of its origins. Together the plots produce a range of wines with complementary or contrasting characteristics for blending.
Vineyard plot distribution in figures
- Total sub-regions: 20
- Total crus: 320
- Total ‘lieux-dits’ (‘named places’): tens of thousands
- Total plots: 280,000
Champagne culture
The terroir
The word "terroir" comes from the Latin "territorium", meaning territory. But the notion of "terroir" encompasses so much more than simply the location of a place. This is how the French dictionary Larousse defines it: "Areas of land within a region, considered from the viewpoint of their agricultural value and supplying one or more characteristic products."
Wine, for example, comes from a terroir. It derives part of its characteristics (minerality, aromas, etc.) from the soil, climate and topography of its territory. The Champagne terroir is unique for many reasons. Because of its geographical location, distinctive, rugged climate, the characteristics of its soil and its hillside vineyards, the Champagne terroir is the only one of its kind in the world.
The terroir
The word "terroir" comes from the Latin "territorium", meaning territory. But the notion of "terroir" encompasses so much more than simply the location of a place. This is how the French dictionary Larousse defines it: "Areas of land within a region, considered from the viewpoint of their agricultural value and supplying one or more characteristic products."
Wine, for example, comes from a terroir. It derives part of its characteristics (minerality, aromas, etc.) from the soil, climate and topography of its territory. The Champagne terroir is unique for many reasons. Because of its geographical location, distinctive, rugged climate, the characteristics of its soil and its hillside vineyards, the Champagne terroir is the only one of its kind in the world.
A multi-faceted wine-growing area
The Champagne wine-growing area extends across several large regions, with more than 120 miles separating the furthest ones from each other. It is an area criss-crossed by rivers and shaped by rolling hills (or "hillsides"). It harbours a varied patchwork of landscapes, each comprising different soils and subsoils. The grape varieties that are planted across the regions have been chosen over the years in light of this diversity – with the most compatible chosen each time.
This all explains why, within a single Champagne AOC, there is such a wide variety of wines with just as many different personalities.
The area under vine extends across five départements:
- Marne (66% of the area under vine),
- Aube (23% of the area under vine),
- Aisne (10% of the area under vine),
- Haute-Marne,
- Seine-et-Marne.
The main wine-growing sub-regions
Four main wine-growing sub-regions make up the area under vine: Montagne de Reims, Marne Valley, Côte des Blancs and Côte des Bar.
They each have their own specific features in terms of topology, soil and subsoil. Far from being minor differences, these characteristics have a direct impact on the wine. The same grape variety will not have the same profile from one region to the next, because the levels of sunshine or the subsoil might be different, or because it grows in different natural environments, whether next to coniferous or hardwood forests for example. Taste two Chardonnays, from two different regions, and experience the differences for yourself!
Montagne de Reims
Flanked by the two rivers, the Vesle to the north and the Marne to the south, Montagne de Reims forms a broad headland carpeted with woodland and thickets.
The Marne Valley
The Marne Valley vineyards thrive on steep hillsides, mostly on either side of the river, stretching towards Paris for as far as the eye can see.
Côte des Blancs
Its name comes from the main white grape variety planted there: Chardonnay. The region extends from the north-east of the area under vine to the south-west, at right angles to the Marne Valley.
Côte des Bar
Côte des Bar lies right to the south of the Champagne AOC area, south-east of Troyes.
Montagne de Reims
Surrounding the city of Reims like a half-moon, it extends lengthways east to west over nearly 20 miles and is 3 to 6 miles wide. The most common grape variety grown here is Pinot noir.
The Marne Valley
The area furthest east, near Épernay, is mainly planted with Pinot noir. Move westwards, however, and Meunier becomes the dominant varietal.
Côte des Blancs
This rolling landscape of slopes and hilltops is 6 to 9 miles long. Its chalk cliffs are particularly well suited to Chardonnay.
Côte des Bar
Interwoven between the patchwork of vines are lots of little green valleys. Pinot noir makes up 83% of the vines here, with a small percentage of Chardonnay and Meunier.
"Champagne is a world-famous wine, and yet few people are familiar with our vines and their diversity"
Planting is conducted in accordance with strict regulatory requirements designed to satisfy the dual demands of the vine and its growing environment.
Basis of regulation
The grubbing-up and replanting of vines (or the planting of new plots) must be notified to the authorities. Planting must take place before the end of May (or late July for plants started in pots), following a period when the soil is rested and prepared. Champagne AOC wines may only be produced from the fruit of third-leaf vines (two years after planting).
Technical provisions
- - A maximum inter-row spacing (between the rows) of 1.5 metres
- - An intra-row spacing (between individual vines) of 0.9-1.5 metres
- - A total spacing (inter- and intra-row) of no more than 2.5 metres
This produces an average planting density of roughly 8,000 plants per hectare, aiming to optimize fruit quality through high-density planting. The more the vines have to compete with their neighbours for water and nutrients, the smaller and better the crop load per vine. Another advantage of high planting density is that it favours the development of an optimal Leaf Area Index (LAI), so promoting photosynthesis.
New plantings are subject to strict EU regulations, in accordance with fixed annual quotas for all wine-producing member countries. New planting rights are then distributed among the different wine-growing regions by the French Minister for Agriculture. For some years now, the annual rights allocation for the Champagne region has not exceeded 1% of the total area under vine.