Jiles's Blog

Cumières facts

Region : Grande Vallée de La Marne

Premier Cru

Vineyard area: 171 hectares

Pinot Noir: 92 Hectares

Chardonnay: 47 hectares

Meunier: 32 hectares

Many years ago, back in the 17th century before champagne had become popular, the Champagne region was best known for its still wines, particularly red wines. One of the centres of production was Cumières and Cumières Rouge is still produced to this day although it’s something of a curiosity that is rarely found outside Champagne.

The vineyards of Cumières are rated as Premier Cru and lie just at the very entrance to the main valley of the Marne River. Just a few kilometres beyond Cumières you enter into the heart of the Marne valley where Meunier reigns supreme but in Cumières itself Pinot Noir is the most widely grown grape varietal in the village, but both Chardonnay and Meunier are grown as well.

Cumières sits on the north bank of the river Marne just 2 or 3 kilometres west of Epernay. A trip on the river by paddle steamer provides an original and enjoyable way to enjoy the peaceful landscape.

Whilst the village ‘ dips its toes’ so to speak, in the waters of the river, behind the village is a broad and steep, south facing slope where the grapes can ripen in the full warmth of the sun. Consequently Cumières is regularly amongst the first villages to start harvesting and this year (2015) is no exception – picking started in Cumières on September 3^rd and only 4 villages, out of well over 100 in the Marne départment, started earlier.

Amongst the many small brands in Cumières Georges Laval (organic) and René Geoffroy are particularly worth mentioning. Georges Laval is hard to find hidden as it is behind a big yellow door with no sign in the tiny Rue du Carrefour. Geoffroy moved their offices to Aÿ a few years ago their vineyards and perhaps the heart of the brand also, are still in Cumières.

The harvest in Champagne is under way. The first village to start picking was Montgueux down in the south of the region near the town of Troyes, but that's 100 kilometres south of Reims and Epernay and in this moire northerly areas they're not going to get started for a few days yet.

Typically the villages on the north and north-east facing slopes of La Montagne de Reims are amongst the last to start picking and in this short video, filmed in the Grand Cru village of Verzy,  you can see why they need a few more days yet for the grapes to reach full maturity.

You'll also learn an easy way to tell a Pinot Noir vine from a Chardonnay vine.

https://youtu.be/HQYcDnZ_mms

Come back soon for more harvest news from Champagne

 

Do you struggle to find the right words to describe wine aromas? I know I do.

The pictures below, courtesy of the CIVC, may help. They show how champagne aromas develop with age ranging from 2 – 8 years.

Many champagnes can age for far longer than 8 years, provided they are stored in good conditions, but it’s always hard to know exactly how long to keep champagne.

Here’s a useful rule of thumb that I was given several years ago. It’s a bit simplistic, but if you use it you’re unlikely to go far wrong:

Keep champagne after purchase for as long as it was aged in the cellar before being sold –

i.e. 2-3 years for non-vintage champagne and up to 7-8 years for vintage champagne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures by the CIVC (Comité Champagne)

In last week’s post I mentioned the Réseau Matu which is a network pf small teams of vignerons in selected villages that sample the grapes every few days in the run-up to the harvest so as to track the ripeness of the grapes and thereby to determine the start date of the harvest. In this bulletin you can discover more about the Réseau Matu and really get to understand why it is so important in planning the harvest.