Key facts
Located in subregion/area: Côte des Blancs / Sézannais
Vineyards and grape varieties: 75.7 hectares (187.1 acres), of which 84% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Noir, 1% Pinot Meunier, and 0.1% övrigt.
Classification: “Autre cru” (87% and 85%).
Map
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 the villages in the Sézannais highlighted.
Clicking on a village opens a field to the left with a link to the village profile, if it exists.
Neighbouring villages within the Champagne appellation
North: Sézanne
South: Saudoy
Comment: some of the communes on the map are not part of the Champagne appellation and therefore don’t have any village profiles.
The village
Vindey is located just south of Sézanne, which is the central town of this area. The village is located rather close to the edge of the forest to the west, surrounded by vineyards, rather than down on the flatter agricultural land.
The Vindey commune covers 794 hectares and has 127 inhabitants (as of 2014), referred to as Vindotiers and Vindotières.
Vineyards
The vineyards in the Vindey commune are located around the village. They are situated on mild slopes, mostly facing southeast. The vineyards in the northern part of the commune are continuous with those in Sézanne. Chardonnay is the most common grape variety, by a wide margin.
The current vineyard surface in the Vindey commune is 75.7 hectares (187.1 acres). There are 63.5 ha Chardonnay (83.9%), 11.3 ha Pinot Noir (14.9%), 0.8 ha Pinot Meunier (1.1%), and 0.1 ha others (0.1%). Numbers from CIVC, as of 2013. In 1997, the vineyard surface was 75 ha. There are 39 vineyard owners (exploitants) in the commune.
Higher rating for Chardonnay
On the now defunct échelle des crus scale, where 100% = grand cru, 90-99% = premier cru, and 80-89% = ”autre cru”, a smaller number of villages were rated differently for white and black grapes, i.e., for Chardonnay (white) and for Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (black). The 12 villages in the Sézannais, including Vindey, were among these, with 87% for white grapes and 85% for black grapes, which in both cases meant ”autre cru”.
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.
- Alain Depoivre (RM), has 3 ha vineyards. The top Champagne is called Prestige and is a 100% Chardonnay sold with some additional age.
- Bernard Depoivre (RM, Facebook page), whose range includes a vintage Champagne.
- Yves Depoivre (RM)
- Bertrand Doyard (RM), has 4.3 ha with 62% Chardonnay, 26% Pinot Noir, and 12% Pinot Meunier. The top Cgampagne Vieilles Vignes is a 100% Pinot Noir from old vines. Sells most of its Champagnes under the brand Bernard Doyard.
- Michel Peligri (RM)
Comment: the list may be incomplete.
A 1904 postcard showing Vindey. Picture linked from Wikimedia Commons.
Links
- Wikipedia about this village in English, in French.
- The Vindey doesn’t have a website.
- UMC’s village profile of Vindey.
- The Swedish version of this post.
© Tomas Eriksson 2017, last update 2017-04-17
Tomas's wine blog 