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Champagne: the 40 new communes
March 17, 2008
Sophie Kevany
The 40 new communes proposed for inclusion into the AOC champagne growing area have been named in the local press, prior to their official publication by the French wine regulator, the Institut National de l'Origine et de la Qualité (INAO).
The official list is to be published in the next 10 to 15 days.
The majority of new communes are in the Marne department, one of the original 'départements' created in March 1790, during the French Revolution.
It includes part of the historic province of Champagne. The old province system was superseded by the existing system of regions, and the province Champagne is now part of the region of Champagne-Ardenne.
The communes named in the Marne are: Baslieux-les-Fismes, Blacy, Boissy-le-Repos, Bouvancourt, Breuil-sur-Vesle, Bussy-le-Repos, Champfleury, Courlandon, Courcy, Courdemanges, Fismes, Huiron, La-Ville-sous-Orbais, Le-Thoult-Trosnay, Loivre, Montmirail, Mont-sur-Courville, Peas, Romain, Saint-Loup, Soulanges, Ventelay.
The communes named in the Aube department, which also includes part of the historic province of Champagne are: Arrelles, Balnot-la-Grange, Bossancourt, Bouilly, Etourvy, Fontvannes, Javernant, Laines-au-Bois, Macey, Messon, Prugny, Saint-Germain-l'Epine, Souligny, Torvilliers, Villery.
In the Aisne area the commune of Marchais-en-Brie, and in the Haute-Marne there is Champcourt and Harricourt.
Have your say...
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I believe I have read most of the coverage on this subject by Decanter as well as some other publications, and it seems to me that an important fact is routinely omitted: the number of hectares/acres that will be added to the total Champagne vineyard. The number of villages is always cited as 40 (although by Decanter's own count, the increase to 675 communes, from 634, the figure should be 41), but it really doesn't mean much, as each of the 40 (or 41) will be of a different size. After all, one of the communes that has got the sack has a mere 2ha/5acres under vine.
Bill Marsano, New York, USA
They are adding 2500 acres (about 1100ha) total to the over 80,000 acres already included. Not a huge jump in production compared to what is already in place. What is interesting is that the new vineyards included will leap in value to 1 million Euros per hectare instead of 5,000 Euros per hectare for vineyards just outside the borders.
Christopher Barrett CSW, Houston, TX, USA
I was travelling when this piece was published, but I think it is important to clarify the numbers for those who have read Bill Marsano's comment. Firstly, contrary to Christopher Barrett's assertion, we don't know how many hectares of potential vineyard are involved, and we won't know until 2014 at the earliest. Only the villages have been agreed so far. Surveying and evaluating the land within those villages to see what might or might not be suitable for viticulture will take five years. This lengthy process cannot start before 2009 because the villages named represent INAO's first avis or opinion. The villages must now go through a public inquiry where their number might increase or decrease before a final list is handed back to INAO for its second avis. Then and only then can the more complex task of vineyard evaluation commence. Secondly, Bill, you have your village numbers mixed up, hence they do not add up. Having quickly scanned Sophie Kevany's various articles, I think that she has mentioned all or most of the relevant details, but it is not straightforward, as evidenced by your comment, and needs to be pulled together. As far as the villages are concerned there are two distinct zones: the Zone de l'Élaboration and Zone de Production. The Zone de l'Élaboration currently consists of 634 villages or communes, of which 319 comprise the Zone de Production. These 319 villages cover approximately 300,000 hectares (more than 741,000 acres), within which just 35,200 hectares (almost 87,000 acres) are classified as AOC Champagne. The proposal agreed by INAO is to add 40 villages (and remove 2) from the Zone de Production, increasing the number from 319 to 357. Most of these additional villages are already in the Zone de l'Élaboration (which in addition to encompassing the Zone de Production, includes almost as many villages where vines cannot be planted, but where Champagne may be made and transported), but not all. Furthermore, the experts have recommended, and INAO has agreed (subject to public inquiry) that a significant number of villages should be added to, and removed from, the Zone de Production, but that list will not be available before the Journal Officiel due to be published on 1st April 2008, thus when we are told that the total number will increase, as you correctly state Bill, from 634 to 675, we don't know how many "new" and "removed" Zone de Production villages this involves. However, we do know that they are not exactly the same as the 40 "new and 3 "removed" Zone de l'Élaboration villages. A full explanation and more is due to be published in the next issue of Decanter, but hopefully this clarifies the issue for now.
Tom Stevenson
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