Champagne village profile: Moussy, just south of Épernay

Key facts

Located in: Vallée de la Marne: Côteaux Sud d’Épernay
Vineyards and grape varieties: 136.1 hectares (336.3 acres), of which 61% Pinot Meunier, 30% Chardonnay, and 8% Pinot Noir.
Classification: “Autre cru” (88%)

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, orange is built-up areas, and green indicates forest.

Google Maps view with all the villages in the Côteaux Sud d’Épernay area highlighted. The premier cru village of the area, Pierry, is in yellow and the other villages, including Moussy, are shown in orange.

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

Neighbouring villages

North: Épernay (the forest area)
East: Pierry, premier cru
Southeast: Monthelon
South: Chavot-Courcourt
West: Vinay

The Town hall (mairie) in Moussy. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons (photo G.Garitan, 2012).

The village

Le Cubry at Moussy. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons (photo G.Garitan, 2012).

Moussy is located just southwest of Épernay, beyond Pierry along the two roads D11 (in the Saint-Martin-d’Ablois direction) and D951 (in the Sézanne direction). In similarity to Pierry, Moussy is more or less continuous with the southern part of Épernay. The village is located at the foot of the slope where the vineyards are located. The stream Le Cubry, that forms the valley that continues to the west, runs below the village and empties into the Marne in Épernay.

The Moussy commune covers 281 hectares and has 732 inhabitants (as of 2013) referred to as Moussytiers and Moussytières.

Vineyards

The vineyards in Moussy are located on the slope southwest of Épernay, which is part of the valley formed by the stream Le Cubry. The most common direction is southeast to south, and Pinot Meunier is the most common grape variety. The vineyards are continuous with those in Pierry and Vinay.

The current vineyard surface in the Moussy commune is 136.1 hectares (336.3 acres). There are 83.4 ha Pinot Meunier (61.3%), 40.9 ha Chardonnay (30.1%), and 11.4 ha Pinot Noir (8.4%). Numbers from CIVC, as of 2013. In 1997, the vineyard surface was 133 ha. There are 108 vineyard owners (exploitants) in the commune.

Champagne houses that use vineyards in the village include Moët & Chandon, Pol Roger, and Taittinger.

Street view in Moussy. The church in the background is located in the neighbouring village Chavot. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons (photo G.Garitan, 2012).

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. Smaller producers with unknown status are placed under this heading.

• Barthélemy-Pinot
• Boivin-Dabot (RM)
• Paul Brassart (RM)
• Gérard Charlot (RM), the company name is Victor Charlot.
• Dominique Crété & Fils (RM), has 7.5 ha of vineyards.
• Roland Crété & Fils
• Crété-Pertois
• José Dambron (RM), also written José Dambron & Fils or Dambron & Fils.
• Dambron-Chamberlin (RC)
• Grasset Stern (RM), also written Grasset-Stern.
• Guillou-Allart (RM)
• Pascal Lejeune, has 4.4 ha of vineyards in Épernay, Pierry, Moussy , and Vinay with 64% Pinot Meunier, 25% Chardonnay, and 11% Pinot Noir. The vintage Champagne is 100% Chardonnay and partly vinified in oak.
• Jean Michel (RM), has 12 ha of vineyards.
• José Michel & Fils (RM), a Special Club producer with 10 ha of vineyards in Moussy, Brugny, Saint-Agnan, and Brasles with 45% Pinot Meunier, 45% Chardonnay, and 10% Pinot Noir. The annual production is 90 000 bottles. José Michel has a good reputation for Pinot Meunier, and the style of most of their Champagnes is rather fruity with some notes of tropical fruit. Most cuvées consist of 50-70% Pinot Meunier, and the only Champagne of their range that consist of 100% of this grape variety is their non-vintage Pinot Meunier. Their Special Club consists of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Meunier from old vines, and the Chardonnay component vinified in oak. The current vintage (2015) is 2007. Some of the earlier vintages that have been produced are 1996, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Future vintage: 2008. The range also includes Père Houdart, which is a non-vintage cuvée consisting of very old reserve wines. The current release (2015) consists of the 2011 base vintage, reserve wines from 1971-1984 and 40% Pinot Meunier, 40% Chardonnay, and 20% Pinot Noir. Small amounts of older vintage Champagnes are released under the name Collection, usually in magnum, e.g. 1989.
  History
  The first own Champagnes were produced in the 1912 vintage by Paul Michel (1860-1936), who were succeeded by Raymond Michel (1902-1971). José Michel has been active since 1955.
  Blog post about a visit in 2010.
  Also sells Champagnes under the brand:
  • J.C.S. Michel & Fils
• Pinot-Chevauchet, has 4 ha of vineyards in Moussy and Pierry. The annual production is 35 000 bottles.
• R. Renaudin (RM), member of Vignerons Indépendants. The vintage Champagne is called L’Espiegle and consists of 100% Chardonnay. Usually has some older vintages available for sale.
• Ruelle-Pertois (RM), has about 6 ha of vineyards, including in Moussy and Chouilly.
• Thiercelin (RM), member of Vignerons Indépedants with 18 ha of vineyards.
• Veuve Godart & Fils (RM, also has a blog), on the labels usually written Vve Godart et Fils, has 9 ha of vineyards in Pierry, Moussy, Vinay, Chavot, Bergères-lès-Vertus, and Festigny.
• Wirth & Michel (RM), also written Wirth-Michel, has slightly more than 4 ha of vineyards in Moussy, Vinay, and Saint-Martin-d’Ablois. Was called Wirth & Fils until 2000.

Comment: the list may not be complete.

Links

• Wikipedia about this village in English, in French.
• Website of the Moussy commune.
  • List of wine producera in the village.
• UMC’s village profile of Moussy.
• The Swedish version of this post.

© Tomas Eriksson 2015, last update 2016-03-26