Ludes

Ludes is a wine-growing village on the northern slope of the Montagne de Reims, 12 km south of Reims and 16 from Épernay, between Mailly-Champagne and Chigny-les-Roses, within the regional natural park. It has forest to the south, and vineyards and fields on the other sides: of its 1,222 hectares, 416 are woodland and 318 are vineyards. The Livre rises here and flows into the Marne. L'UMC places it in the terroir of the Grande Montagne de Reims.

According to the UMC, the vineyard covers 318.6 ha and has 160 winegrowers: Meunier 50%, Pinot Noir 32%, Chardonnay 18%. The parcels lie between 116 and 182 meters, with an average slope of 6.6%, and face mainly north, northwest, and northeast. According to the Comité Champagne, Meunier buds late, is less susceptible to frost, and produces soft, fruity wines; Pinot Noir lends body and structure. Among the houses with vineyards in the village, the UMC cites de Castellane and Moët & Chandon.

The name comes from the Latin Lucida, “clearing,” attested around 818. In 1752, Nicolas Bidet added Ludes to the most renowned wines of the Montagne, and in 1816 André Jullien placed its red wines in the second class. The church preserves a 16th-century Madonna and Child with grapes. From 1896 to 1931, the village was served by the Reims-Châlons railway of the Banlieue de Reims; damaged in the Great War, it received the Croix de guerre in 1921. In the échelle des crus, it was rated 94%, and the regulations for AOC Champagne list it among the Premier Cru villages.

Huré Frères is based in Ludes. Below are its wines and the other Champagne wines that our map associates with the village; Ludes is also marked on the Champagne map.