Champagne village profile: Villers-aux-Nœuds, a premier cru village in the northwestern part of Montagne de Reims

Posted on October 2, 2014 by vintomas

Diagram Villers-aux-Nœuds 201506Key facts

Located in: Montagne & Val de Reims: Vesle et Ardre
Vineyards and grape varieties: 28.0 hectares (69.2 acres), of which 53% Pinot Noir, 31% Pinot Meunier, and 16% Chardonnay.
Classification: Premier cru (90%)

Maps

The map is linked from Wikimedia Commons, and the geographical information originates from OpenStreetMap. The dotted white area corresponds to the vineyards, light yellow is other open terrain, and green indicates forest.


Google Maps view with the villages in the Vesle et Ardre highlighted. The premier cru villages are in yellow and the autre cru villages are in orange. The La Petite Montagne de Reims part is shown within red borders and the Vallée de la Vesle part within green borders.

Clicking on a village opens a field to the left with a link to the village profile.

Neighbouring villages

Southeast: Villers-Allerand (premier cru, part of the Grande Montagne de Reims)
South: Sermiers
Southwest: Chamery (premier cru)
West: Écueil (premier cru)
Northnorthwest: Bezannes (premier cru)
Northnortheast: Reims

The village

The town hall (mairie) of Villers-aux-Nœds. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons (photo G.Garitan, 2015).

The Villers-aux-Nœuds commune covers 644 hectares and has 172 inhabitants (as of 2015), referred to as Villersnaudai. This small village is located along the D22 road that runs from Champfleury (southern suburb of Reims, but not a Champagne-producing village) and southsouthwest up the Montagne de Reims hill.

Nœud is the French word for knot.

Villers-aux-Nœuds and Sermiers, its neighbour to the south, are the first Champagne villages encountered to the west of the road between Reims and Épernay, the D951. They are therefore not counted as part of the Grande Montagne de Reims but (somewhat arbitrarily) as part of the more spread-out area around the rivers Vesle and Ardre.

The church of Villers-aux-Nœds, L’église St. Théodulphe de Villers-aux-Nœuds. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons (photo Garitan, 2011).

Vineyards

Almost all of the commune consists of agricultural land, but only a smaller part of it vineyards. The vineyards are located on the lower part of the north-facing slope of the Montagne de Reims hill, and are located in the southern part of the commune.

The current vineyard surface in the Villers-aux-Nœuds commune is 28.0 hectares (69.2 acres). There are 14.3 ha Pinot Noir (51.1%), 8.8 ha Pinot Meunier (31.4%), and 4.9 ha Chardonnay (17.5%). There are 33 vineyard owners (exploitants) in the commune. Current information from CIVC as of 2018, refers to the situation a few years earlier. In 1997, the vineyard surface was also 28 ha.

Single vineyard sites

Single vineyard sites in Villers-aux-Nœuds include the following, among others:

  • Le Mont Benoit, a southeast-facing site in the northern part of the commune, close to the motorway exit from A4/E17 and on the border to Bezannes. The soil is clay, silt and limestone. Emmanuel Brochet produces both a non-vintage and a vintage Champagne from this vineyard. The oldest vines in his part of the vineyard date from 1962. Brochet has illustrated at least some labels with power lines visible from the vineyard. Savart in Écueil produces a vineyard-designated Champagne using Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from this site.

Champagne producers

Champagne growers

Producer status is indicated where known: RM = récoltant-manipulant, or grower-producers. RC = récoltant-coopérateur, growers that are cooperative members but sell Champagnes under their own name.

  • Emmannuel Brochet (RM), one of the new generation of small growers. Started his production in 1997, having received back the family vineyard (2.5 ha in the Le Mont Benoit) after it had been leased out for some time. Member of Vignerons Indépendants.
  • Germain-Brochet (RC, Facebook page)
  • Leroy (RC), has 4 ha of vineyards. The range includes a vintage Champagne composed of 70% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Noir (refers to the 2009 vintage). Cuvée de fût de chêne is an oak barrel-vinified blanc de blancs.
  • Solemme (Facebook page), has 6 ha of vineyards in five villages in the Montagne de Reims and one village in the Vallée de l’Ardre.

Links

© Tomas Eriksson 2014-2018, last updated 2018-12-02

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