Côte de Mutigny in Champagne
Mutigny is a charming little village perched on a headland at 240-meter altitude in the Montagne de Riems. It offers beautiful views of most of the Champagne regions – Montagne de Riems, Marne Valley, Côte des Blancs, and Epernay.
I walked up the southeast slope from Avenay to make it to Saint-Martin’s 15th century church. But the climb up the south side is quite steep, as the ladies in the Tour de France Femmes discovered this year. This climb up the Côte de Mutigny is 1.8km long and bridges 127 vertical meters with an average gradient of 7 percent.
You can see in the photo Carole running down the Côte de Mutigny – she runs half way up and back again every day. Not bad for a middle-aged lady.
As I was walking up I also met Collette who was pruning some pinot noir vines. She much prefers this to her previous job in a restaurant. She doesn’t have to work evenings or weekends. But I sensed that she loved her job. Pruning requires an intimate knowledge of grape growth and conditions, and she seemed to have that.
Colette prefers Pinot noir based Champagne. She finds Chardonnay-based Champagne too acidic, while Pinot meunier does nothing for her.
As I was gliding across the top of the Côte de Mutigny I met Régis. He works for Moët & Chandon but was out pruning his family’s vineyard, something he loves doing. Régis is convinced that this year will make very good Champagne. The vines have no disease, and have not suffered from late rains. Although this year has been a bit dry, the vines survive as their roots dig deep in their search for underground water.
As I made it down to the bottom of the Côte de Mutigny, I was greeted by Elizabeth who, with her husband, runs a small family-based Champagne house called Egrot. Elizabeth’s assistant, Margot (from Poland), offered me a tasting of their wonderful Extra-Brut Champagne, which is a blend of Pinot Noir (60 percent) and Chardonnay (40 percent). Of course, I bought a bottle.
Everyone I spoke to said that harvesting (la vendange) will start next week. I’ll have to rush back to follow what’s happening.
Wow, what a great day.
Logistics
Train from Paris Gare de l’Est to Epernay. Change for little train to Avenay. Then start walking.