Ambonnay

Ambonnay sits at the eastern end of the Montagne de Reims, on south- and southeast-facing slopes that catch direct sun in a region where most Pinot Noir vineyards face north or east. The village has one of the highest chalk contents recorded in Champagne, with notably deep chalk strata that vines can reach without obstruction, and that geology is the source of the cashmere texture wine writers consistently flag as Ambonnay's signature. Pinot Noir overwhelmingly dominates the plantings on the same Cretaceous bedrock as the rest of the Marne. The village is also one of the recognised epicentres of the modern grower-Champagne movement, and one of the few Grand Crus where still red wine, the Coteaux Champenois rouge tradition, is still taken seriously as wine in its own right.