17 October, 2002

17 terroirs of Champagne

At the moment Champagne includes 35.000 hectares, where the owners can plant vines and use the grapes to make champagne. Only 3.000 of these hectares are impossible to use, because they are covered by churchyards, villages and similar stuff.

The area is divided into four main regions, that are divided into 17 different terroirs. A word, the French use to siginify a special combination of climate, soils, heighth and other factors, that influences the quality of grapes on the particular spot. Not all experts and/or vine countries operate with the notion, but it is an important one in France.


Source: Maisons Champagnes

Each of the four big vineareas of Champagne includes about 8.000 hectares.

Our vines grow in the Val de Petit Morin. I just learned that. The last three years I've claimed we belong to the extremities of the Côte des Blancs. The cooperative names us Crus Périphériques de la Côte des Blancs, which means something like vines from the periphery of the Côte des Blancs.

These are the areas that the next 10 years will be extended. New permissions to plant vines will be granted in some or all of these 40 villages. Read more about the regions of Champagne here.

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