July 30, 2020champagne

The Champagne Region

The Champagne region is a large area sitting 150km North West of Paris, France. It has been a defined geographical area since 1927 and spans from as far north as Cormicy (20km North of Reims) all the way down to Les Riceys (50km Souch of Troyes). All in, there are over 34,300 hectares of vines spread over 5 departments and 319 villages.

The area is split up into various sub regions:

 

 

Massif de Saint Thierry

  • Situated North West of Reims this is the most northerly vineyard area and houses some spectacular new producers including Ullens and Minier F&R. It is mainly planted with Meunier but is starting to see some great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

 

Montagne de Reims

  • A key production site for Pinot Noir running round the mountain between Reims and Epernay. It is home to a number of Grand Cru villages from Mailly to Verzy all the way down to Bouzy.

 

Vallee de L’Ardre

  • Sitting South of Reims and running North, North West this region is home to a number of villages and becomes the extention of the Northwest part of the Montagne de Reims; La Petite Montagne de Reims and the Vallee de la Vesle. We are extremely happy to bring a number of producers to you from the area including; Perseval Farge, Gaspard Brochet and Bertrand Delespierre.

Vallee de la Marne

  • A huge area of production running both on the North and South bank of the river Marne as it makes it’s way to Paris stopping at Charly sur Marne (approximately 80km East of Paris). The area is the focus of Meunier production in the region. Some of the great Meunier wines, that sit on the shelves of Sip Champagnes, can be found in this region.

Cote des Blancs

  • The seminal area for Chardonnay production in the region and home to some of the great Grand Cru sites including Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil sur Oger and Avize. We are extremely happy to show at least one producer from each of the Grand Cru sites including; Legras et Haas in Chouilly, Pertois-Lebrun in Cramant and Pierre Callot in Avize.

Cote de Sezanne

  • A large region sitting South of the Cote des Blancs that runs through the village of Sezanne, producing mainly Chardonnay. We are fortunate to bring a fabulous producer to the table in the shape of Barrat Masson who sit at the very Southern tip of the region.

 

Coteaux du Petit Morin

  • A small sub region being championed by one of the true greats of the modern grower movement; Ulysse Collin. Nestled between the Cote des Blancs and Sezanne it is known for Chardonnay production.

Coteaux du Vitryat

  • A very small region sitting North of Vitry le Francois on the furthest Eastern reaches of the Marne river. Famed for being the home of Champagne Joseph Perrier and a key site for Chardonnay.

Montgueux

  • A region and a village all in one. A beautiful chalky outcrop facing South East, just West of Troyes. Famed for it’s Chardonnay we are so happy to show two amazing producers from this village; Beaugrand (the first family to plant vineyards in the village) and Jean Velut.

 

Cote des Bar

  • A vast region at the Southern extremes of the Champagne area. It includes both the Bar sur Aube and Seine. Much warmer in climate it is famed for its Pinot Noir and we are overjoyed to show such stunning wines as Brocard Pierre, Remi Leroy and Richard Royer.

Grand Cru villages

Unlike Burgundy, the Champagne world is not dominated by the hierarchy of Cru status. Although many great wines are found in the Grand Cru villages the excitement in Champagne is what is being done outside of these villages. The many Premier Cru and non class status villages are riding the wave of great production with visionary winemakers creating legendary wines from soils that historically have had limited backing.

Written by Peter Crawford

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