Mesnil-sur-Oger, Champagne
In the spring of 1987, I did a three-day walking trip around the village of Mesnil-sur-Oger, which sits beautifully in the Champagne region of Côte des Blancs. Today, I returned for the first time in the past 36 years.
Mesnil-sur-Oger is a lovely, quiet village. It is dominated by the Romanesque-style St. Nicolas church, which lies across from a 1932 replica of the Lourdes grotto.
Champagne houses dot the streets, including Champagne Launois Père et Fils, set in a grand cháteau with its own wine museum, the Musée de la Vigne et du Vin.
As the name implies, 100% of the vineyards of Côte des Blancs are planted with Chardonnay grapes, with their white skin and flesh.
And the vineyards of Mesnil sur Oger have a truly excellent terroir, 100% of its vineyards are ranked as “Grand Cru”. The quality of the vineyards also comes from the fact that they are east-facing.
Once again, I found perfect wine walking conditions. I walked from Mesnil-sur-Oger through the vineyards, up to the point where the vineyards meet the forest. Then I followed the forest/vineyard line until I reached the village of Oger.
Oger is a quaint village with family-run wineries offering champagne tastings and cellar tours. I did notice on the main village square a lovely-looking restaurant — “La Récré par Eric Sontag” — a good reason to return.
Walking along, I bumped into a couple of locals. I was told that while there remain many small family-run Champagne vineyards, they are progressively being bought up by big Champagne houses.
Many small family operations also sell their grapes to the big Champagne houses. As new technologies are employed more and more, scale is necessary to make the technologies cost-effective.
One of my interlocutors who comes from a multi-generational Champagne family, now works full-time for a big Champagne house. But this gentleman retains a small patch of vineyard, from which he sells the grapes to a big Campagne house.
Both my interlocutors spoke highly of the quality of the Chardonnay grapes on the Côte des Blancs. But lots of work is required to look out for diseases, and prune the lush grape vines. Pruning was underway today.
The vendange (harvest) will likely take place in September this year, rather than last year’s August, because of delays due to spring rains. But this is much earlier than in the past, due to global warming. The vendange used to occur in October.
One of my interlocutors runs a crop farm in addition to his vineyard. Product diversification makes good sense.
The whole Côte des Blancs is a wonderfully beautiful area. I will progressively walk it all over the coming months.