Bouzy : Once
upon a time a « CRU » ...
Historical account :
 In
the 6th Century, Count Attila – The
Seigneur of Pagus – gave to Saint-Basles
the lands of Bouzy. Rapidly the reputation
of this wine crossed the Reims Mountain.
That’s how the best wines from Bouzy were
regularly served with all banquets to crown
our Kings of France in Reims.
Bouzy became really famous during the Sun
King Century. At first Madame de Sévigné
discovered these wines from the Reims Mountain
and hurried to inform her dear daughter…and
posterity of them. Louis the Fourteenth,
despite his doctor’s warnings, used to
prefer these wonderful red wines from
Champagne to any other wine. At that time,
Father Godinot ( his family used to own a
splendid vineyard in Bouzy ) has contributed
to improve the process to make Champagne (
froth…). Wines from Bouzy have appeared on
the inventory cellar-book of Louis the
Sixteenth in Versailles – m.s 01793 – page
15 ( Archives Nationales 1782 ).
The first Champagnes were marketed by the
name of the « CRU » where it came
from. During the 18th and the 19th Centuries,
you could find on labels : « Grand Vin
du Trésor de Bouzy », « Fine
Fleur de Bouzy »…The industrial
revolution ( middle of the 19th Century ) did
not spare Champagne and the
« brand » did replace the « CRU
». Only during the great Depression in 1930,
the name of Bouzy reappeared on a label of
Champagne, but this time, it was made and
marketed by winegrowers themselves.
Its vineyard :  Since
1895, the vineyard of Bouzy has been
classified among the
17 « Grands Crus » villages in
Champagne ( out of 309 listed villages which
benefit from the A.O.C. Champagne ).
Recognized for the quality of their soil and
the specificity of their climate, these
vineyards have exceptional conditions to
develop these local grape-varieties.
On a thick chalky sediment, the vineyard
of Bouzy covers 381 ha planted with PINOT
NOIR ( 88% ) and with CHARDONNAY ( 12% )
and is south facing on the Reims Mountain.
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