Delimited by a law in 1927, the production area of theControlled designation of origin (AOC) Champagne covers some 34,300 hectares.
Located about 150 kilometers east of Paris, it includes 319 different vintages distributed in five departments that are mainly the Marne for 66 %, dawn for 23 %, Aisne for 10 %, Haute-Marne and the Seine et Marne.
The Marquise de Pompadour said, about Champagne wine, that it is the only wine that leaves the beautiful woman after drinking. Deutz, Ruinart, Dom Pérignon, Taittinger, Moët, Widow Clicquot, or even Mumm to name a few, so many world famous names inviting you on the roads of champagne wines and whose hundred -year -old origins testify to the Excellence know-how Of all these winegrowers in the service of an exceptional terroir.
Almost fairly distributed, it is the grape varieties of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay that are cultivated and assembled for our greatest pleasure.
Starting with Reims, city of the coronation of the kings of France from Louis Le Pieux in 816, or even Épernay, a city also closely linked to the history of Champagne wine, you discover all the big houses which make the renown of the four major regions de Champagne: the mountain of Reims, the Côte des Blancs, the Marne Valley and the Côte des Bar.
Walk on the Champagne tourist route.
LIn the mountain of Reims, from the northwest of Reims and to Epernay, is a large platform with low relief which overlooks the chalky plains and having as a point culminating Mount Sinai, at an altitude of 286 meters, in the department of the Marl.
We find there Two main types of champagnes: Those rich in Pinot Noir with aromas of blackcurrant, quetsche, cherry and pepper as well as those rich in Chardonnay with very pure aromas of citrus, fleshy fruits and chalk. Characteristic floors consist of chalk, sand, clay and limestone. These floors deliver an intensity and a character Unique to the wines and offer Pinot Noir an ideal location allowing him to be the dominant grape.
In the White Coast, you discover historic cities like Épernay and its 110 kilometers of cellars. In this region, you will find magnificent whites of whites with citrus aromas, aniseed aromatic herbs, scents of white flowers, pink and hawthorn, perfectly sueing a predominantly iodized kitchen.
The diversity of the floors brings A real richness to this region. Mainly crayy and humid, the earth gives a particular minerality to the vine. On the top of the hillsides, there are more clay areas producing reserve wines refining over time.
The Marne Valley, the largest of the Champagne regions, run from east of Épernay west of Château-Thierry. Apart from the vines, you will find a number of villages, castles and churches offering you superb beautiful views.
In this region, champagnes offer you notes of white to seed fruit, yellow kernel fruits, tropical fruits and sweet spices and go perfectly with a large number of summer recipes.
The miller is the grape variety that is mainly found in this area, because the clay-limestone soils are ideal for him. It is also suitable for the rough, cold and humid climate found in the valley.
The bar coast takes its name from its environment, since in Celtic, bar means "the top". It is made up of steep reliefs and dug by various rivers and rivers that cross it and extend from Bar-sur-Aube to Bar-sur-Seine, along the Langres plateau.
Sumptuous landscapes like a rich heritage History are to be discovered in this vast Champagne region. This region with a rich earth offers cuvées with dominant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay which offer notes of candied, smoked and honeyed fruit.
The majority champagnes of Chardonnay, on the other hand, offer floral elegance and minerality of smoked limestone. On very steep hillsides, the earth is made up of marls, limestone and clay allowing this terroir to develop a particular typicity of wine. We first find the Pinot Noir and then the Chardonnay.
Browse the Champagne vineyard on foot.
Starting from Cramant to Virtus, course of a dozen kilometers and an easy level, your path will make you discover Avize, the Mesnil sur Oger which houses the clos of the same name of the Krug house and its terroir of 1 , 84 hectare of Chardonnay, surrounded since 1698.
Know champagne.
So that the skin of black grapes does not give off their color, the clusters are harvested only by hand. The grapes are then in a hurry, then the Moûts ferment before being assembled later. Champagne is then bottled with an addition of drawing liquor made up of wine, yeasts and sugar.
This will return the fermentation and give wine its carbon dioxide bubbles. Then come Drawing and other operations and manipulations to discover by visiting the champagne cellars.
