Blog navigation

Latest posts

What's the right choice between champagne from the big houses and champagne from the winegrowers?
What's the right choice between champagne from the big houses and champagne from the winegrowers?
2376 views

The world of champagne encompasses a diversity that is often overlooked between the prestigious Grandes Maisons and...

Read more
How to eat well during your stay in Champagne
How to eat well during your stay in Champagne
313 views

Profiter des délices de la région Champagne tout en maintenant une alimentation équilibrée est tout à fait possible.

Read more
How do you insure your home wine cellar?
How do you insure your home wine cellar?
215 views

Les amateurs de vin le savent bien : une cave bien constituée représente souvent des années de passion, d’achats...

Read more
Paris: The secrets of successful wine tasting
Paris: The secrets of successful wine tasting
971 views

Is Paris really the wine capital? Let's just say it's the capital of pleasant surprises. Behind every alleyway and...

Read more
Champagne and Crémant de Loire: 19 powerful secrets for making the right choice (Guide essentiel 2025)
Champagne and Crémant de Loire: 19 powerful secrets for making the right choice (Guide essentiel 2025)
644 views

On Pépites en Champagne, we like to compare Champagne and Crémant de Loire for a simple reason: these bubbles don't...

Read more

Soil and subsoil of the Champenois vineyards

3861 Views
 

The subsoil is mainly limestone, as are 75% of the outcropping sediments (chalk, marl and limestone). This type of subsoil favors soil drainage and lends a distinctive minerality to certain Champagne wines.

The Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne and Vitry-le-François vineyards are located on outcropping chalk, while the Montagne de Reims is on buried chalk. The Vallée de la Marne (west of Châtillon-sur-Marne) and the small massifs around Reims (Saint-Thierry, Vallée de l'Ardre and Montagne Ouest) tend towards marl, clay or sand. The Côte des Bar (Bar-sur-Aube and Bar-sur-Seine) is mainly composed of marl.

Champagne chalk is composed of calcite granules derived from the skeletons of marine micro-organisms (coccolites) and is characterized by the presence of belemnite fossils (mollusks from the secondary era). Its high porosity makes it a veritable water reservoir (300 to 400 liters per m3), ensuring an adequate water supply for the plant, even in the driest summers.

Chalk retains water by capillary action, forcing the vine to absorb it. This results in moderate water stress during the growing season, favoring the balance between the fruit's various acids, sugar and aroma precursors that will be revealed in the wine to come.

Lithological formations inthe Champagne vineyards