Concept
Crayères
Ancient chalk quarries beneath Reims and Épernay, cut since Roman times and used as wine cellars since the 18th century. UNESCO World Heritage since 2015.
What they are
Crayères are ancient chalk quarries beneath the soil of Reims (and to a lesser extent Épernay). Deep vertical shafts whose walls have been carved into cellar chambers with vaults metres high. The chalk itself is around 80 million years old (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous). Today the crayères are used by the Champagne houses for yeast fermentation and long lees ageing.
How they came to be
The Romans began quarrying chalk under Durocortorum, their settlement on the site of present-day Reims, as early as the first century. Chalk served as building material for city walls and dwellings. Between 280 and 320 CE the operation became more systematic. The lime industry remained Reims’s most important economic activity into the early twentieth century, until Portland cement took over the market.
On Saint-Nicaise hill in Reims, around 2,000 ventilation shafts still point down to the underground network. Cellar depth: 20 to 40 metres. Total volume extracted across the centuries: around 300,000 cubic metres.
Wine cellars
Ruinart (founded 1729) was the first Champagne house to convert Gallo-Roman mines into wine cellars, in the late eighteenth century. In 1820 Madame Ruinart connected 24 separate crayères through 8 kilometres of newly excavated galleries. That set the model for the rest of the houses.
Current owners of crayères beneath Reims:
- Ruinart (Rue des Crayères, cellars 40 metres deep)
- Taittinger (Place Saint-Nicaise, with remains of a 13th-century abbey)
- Veuve Clicquot (Place des Droits de l’Homme)
- Pommery (18 km of galleries under Saint-Nicaise park)
- Krug, Mumm, Lanson, Charles Heidsieck
Constant climate
The chalk holds around 11 degrees Celsius year-round, with humidity between 90 and 100 percent. Ideal for slow second fermentation and long autolysis. No mechanical air conditioning needed, no energy consumption: passive geological climate control. A contemporary sustainability bonus the original builders couldn’t have foreseen.
Second life
During the First World War the crayères served as a shelter for the residents of Reims, which was heavily bombed: 600 dead, cathedral destroyed. During the Second World War the French Resistance used the crayères to hide Allied airmen.
UNESCO
On 4 July 2015 the UNESCO World Heritage Committee recognised “Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars” as a World Heritage Site. The crayères, the historic vineyards (Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Saint-Nicaise hill) and the Avenue de Champagne in Épernay form the three core components of the designation.
For visitors
Ruinart and Taittinger offer guided tours (typically 60 to 90 euros), Veuve Clicquot seasonally (April to November), Pommery year-round. Reservation is almost always required.