Verzy

Verzy lies just east of Verzenay on the Montagne de Reims, sharing the same cool, mostly northeast-facing exposure that defines the eastern face of the hill. The plantings are predominantly Pinot Noir with a notable share of Chardonnay, on a slope that subtly differs from Verzenay's, with chalkier soils on the upper benches and clay-richer ground further down. The village is known almost as well for the forest above its vineyards as for the wines themselves: the Faux de Verzy is a small population of naturally twisted dwarf beech trees in the woodland that crowns the Montagne, holding more than half of the species' worldwide population, attested in records going back to the sixth-century monks of the nearby Abbaye de Saint-Basle. Verzy was promoted from Premier Cru to Grand Cru in 1985, alongside Chouilly, Oiry, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, the only Montagne village in that final classification expansion.