Puisieulx

Puisieulx is a rarity among the 17 Grand Crus of Champagne: rather than sitting on the slope of the Montagne de Reims, the village's vineyards lie on flat land below the actual hill, near the A4 motorway and the southeastern suburbs of Reims. It is by some margin the smallest Grand Cru in Champagne, and one of the original twelve villages classified at the highest tier in the 1911 Échelle des Crus. The plantings are unusually mixed for a Grand Cru: Pinot Noir leads the way, but with a meaningful share of Chardonnay and an unusual amount of Pinot Meunier alongside, making this the only Grand Cru where all three principal grapes hold a substantial presence. The vineyard area has shrunk steadily under pressure from the city's expansion. Almost no Champagne is bottled under the Puisieulx name; the small amount of fruit grown here goes mostly into the blends of major Reims houses, and the Grand Cru status sits more as a historical artefact than as a meaningful presence in the modern trade.