📍 Champagne

Champagne is the northernmost wine area of France, about 160 kilometres east of Paris. It is the home of champagne: by law only sparkling wine from this area may bear the name. The vineyards lie mostly in the Marne and Aube departments, with small plots in Aisne and Seine-et-Marne. Together they cover more than 30,000 hectares, and winters bring 60 to 80 frost days.

The main grapes are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier; four rare ones are also permitted: Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. Besides champagne, the region makes the still wine Coteaux Champenois and rosé. Non-vintage champagne is aged for at least 15 months (at least 12 of them on the lees), and vintage champagne for at least three years.

The area is divided into Montagne de Reims, the Marne Valley, the Côte des Blancs (where Chardonnay is the main grape), the Côte de Sézanne and the Côte des Bar in the Aube department. The soil is limestone and chalk, and cellars for storing bottles are dug into the chalk.

The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne were added to the UNESCO list in 2015. The main cities of the region are Reims and Épernay.