The area of the Champagne vineyards AOC is amounted to 33 500 ha of which almost 21 000 ha on the only department of Marne.
It owes its wealth to its fragmentation; each village is a thought (the product of a soil and climate). Remember that the vineyards of Champagne is old
In 1865, it extended over 65,000 hectares. The appearance of phylloxera in the late nineteenth century and the 1914-18 war will dramatically reduce the surface, it around 12 000 ha at the end of a devastating conflict for the Champagne.
But in 1927, Champagne was the first French region to fix the limits of its appellation area. It is still fragmented and extends mainly in the departments of the Marne (72% of production areas) and Aube (21%), with 5 main areas (Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs, Valley Marne, Côte de Sézanne and Côte des Bar) and on some common Aisne, Haute Marne and Seine et Marne is 319 municipalities.
Some specifics about Champagne
Champagne traditionally assesses harvesting tons of grapes, pieces of unfermented juice and bottle necks, distinguishing bottles sold annually and stocks, while elsewhere the trend is starting in hectoliters. Annual production is thus estimated to 320 million bottles, with stocks of 1.2 billion bottles. With the increased performance today at 10500 kg / ha, the annual production prospects can rise to nearly 400 million bottles.
The five regions of the appellation area:
Montagne et Val de Reims: the hills between the plate and the Ardre valley and Vesle south facing with as dominant grape, pinot noir and pinot meunier.
Vallée de la Marne : the hills that Ayÿ into the Aisne beyond Chateau Thierrysont predominantly clay and limestone with Pinot Meunier as dominant grape variety (62%).
Côte des Blancs et Sézannais, Kingdom of chardonnay (82%). The chalk is omnipresent. Connect the slopes from north to south slopes of Epernay to Sézannais.
Côte des Bar entre Seine et Aube, south of Champagne. On chalky marl soils tend, Pinot Noir dominates (87%).