Côte des Blancs
Il regno dello Chardonnay: una côte di gesso a sud di Épernay, rivolta a est, con sei Grand Cru
- Villaggi
- 12 comuni · 6 Grand Cru · 5 Premier Cru
- Vigne
- ≈ 3.230 ha · 2.391 viticoltori (UMC)
- Vitigni
- Chardonnay 97% · Pinot Noir 2% · Meunier 1% (UMC)
- Terroir UMC
- Côte des Blancs (Voipreux è nella tabella del Val du Petit Morin)
- Città
- Épernay a nord, Vertus a sud
- Suoli
- Gesso affiorante della Côte d'Île-de-France; pendii rivolti a est
South of Épernay, the Côte des Blancs runs northeast to southwest for 10–15 kilometers, perpendicular to the Marne Valley, along the edge of the Brie plateau: it is the easternmost tip of the Côte d'Île-de-France, the cuesta overlooking the chalk plain toward Châlons-en-Champagne. Chalk is exposed everywhere and acts as a reservoir for water and heat; almost all the slopes face east, sheltered from westerly winds, except Grauves, on the other side of the côte. The wooded ridge reaches 246 meters above Avize; the vineyards lie between 100 and 200 meters.
The name comes from the grape: Chardonnay covers 97% of the approximately 3,230 hectares that the UMC counts across twelve villages, with nearly 2,400 winegrowers. Vigorous and early-ripening, on this chalk it yields fresh wines with delicate aromas of flowers and citrus, sometimes mineral, and suited to aging: this is the home of Blanc de Blancs. Only at the southernmost end, in Vertus, does Pinot Noir vie with it for space. The vineyards of Oger and Le Mesnil already appear in the Grande Charte champenoise of 1114, and in 1911 Avize and Cramant were among the eleven cru rated 100% in the first échelle. Oger, Vertus, Voipreux and Gionges now make up the commune of Blancs-Coteaux.
Six villages are Grand Cru: Chouilly, Oiry, Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger; Le Mesnil, Oger and Oiry rose from 99 to 100% in 1985, and Chouilly reached that level that year for white grapes only. The Premier Cru villages are Cuis, Grauves, Vertus, Bergères-lès-Vertus and Voipreux. The L'Union des Maisons de Champagne extends the name Côte des Blancs as far as Troyes: the Val du Petit Morin, the Côte de Sézanne, the Vitryat and Montgueux have their own pages here.
At STELT, the Côte des Blancs is represented by bottles from the Grand Cru villages of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Avize, Oger, Cramant and Chouilly, and the Premier Cru villages of Cuis, Grauves and Vertus.
Côte des Blancs · the villages
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Grand Cru di Chardonnay ai piedi della «montagne d'Avize», nel cuore della Côte des Blancs.
14 winesOn the map → -
Grand Cru alle porte di Épernay: oltre 500 ettari di Chardonnay sulle colline di Saran, Plumecoq e Montagnotte.
1 wineOn the map → -
Grand Cru di Chardonnay tra la montagne d'Avize e la Butte de Saran, con una bottiglia gigante all'ingresso.
1 wineOn the map → -
Grand Cru di Chardonnay nel sud della Côte des Blancs, su coteaux di craia ricca di fossili esposti a est.
15 winesOn the map → -
Grand Cru di Chardonnay tra Avize e Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, oggi parte del comune di Blancs-Coteaux.
2 winesOn the map → -
Il Grand Cru più basso della Côte des Blancs: 88 ettari di Chardonnay su dolci pendii ai margini della pianura.
No wines at the momentOn the map → -
Premier Cru all'estremità sud della Côte des Blancs, tra il coteau e la butte del Mont Aimé.
No wines at the momentOn the map → -
Premier Cru all'estremità nord della Côte des Blancs, tra Pierry e Chouilly: quasi solo Chardonnay.
1 wineOn the map → -
Premier Cru di Chardonnay in una valle laterale, sul versante opposto della montagne d'Avize.
2 winesOn the map → -
Il più grande dei Premier Cru: oltre 540 ettari, soprattutto Chardonnay, nel sud della Côte des Blancs.
1 wineOn the map → -
Piccolo Premier Cru di Chardonnay ai piedi della Côte des Blancs, vicino a Vertus, oggi parte di Blancs-Coteaux.
No wines at the momentOn the map →
The other communes of the zone, on the map
Credits and sources. Photo: Gilles.callot · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons. Map: IGN (RGE ALTI®, BD TOPO®, ADMIN EXPRESS) · Licence Ouverte 2.0.
