The area known as Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars is located in the Champagne region of France. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015. This site is important because it shows the history of making and selling champagne. It also demonstrates how a famous business that combines farming and industry grew over time.
Description
The World Heritage site in the Champagne wine region covers a small area but includes places that show all steps of making and selling champagne. There are 14 different sites divided into three groups:
- The historic vineyards of Hautvillers, Aÿ, and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, along with their cellars, where grapes have been grown and fermented since at least 1673.
- Saint-Nicaise Hill in Reims, an urban vineyard with cellars connected to public areas and parks.
- Avenue de Champagne and Fort Chabrol in Épernay, the most famous place for displaying and selling champagne.
The vineyards in Hautvillers, Aÿ, and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ have on-site buildings for harvesting grapes and pressing them, which reduces the need to move grapes far. The cellars under these villages and vineyards were dug into chalky hillsides during the 17th and 18th centuries and are built uphill from the vineyards. The largest cellars are located at Saint-Nicaise Hill. These cellars, built later than those outside the city, were expanded from existing underground chalk quarries and extend for many kilometers under the vineyards and town. The Avenue of Champagne in Épernay includes the headquarters of many leading champagne producers. This street, built along a major trade route between France and Germany, has housed buildings for champagne merchants since the 18th century.