Location and landscape
Gueux is a commune in the Marne department in the Champagne region and in the arrondissement of Reims. The town is about 10 kilometres from Reims and covers 857 hectares. Gueux is located on the Champagne plain at the foot of the Montagne de Reims and the cuesta on the eastern edge of the Paris Basin, at an altitude of around 100 metres.
Winemaking character
In the section of the Champagne cuesta between Gueux and Sermiers, the vineyards are predominantly oriented east-northeast and are protected from damp southwesterly winds. The soils of this sector consist of tertiary strata over chalk. West of the town, the vineyards belong to the Champagne and Coteaux champenois appellation areas.
Les Béguines
The Champagne La Closerie – Jérôme Prévost manages in Gueux the contiguous two-hectare plot Les Béguines at the edge of the Champagne appellation area. It is planted on calcareous sand of the Thanetian and is made up of 94 per cent Pinot Meunier, 2 per cent Pinot Gris and 2 per cent Chardonnay. The vineyard is worked manually; insecticides have been avoided since 1994 and herbicides since 1996.
Historical traces
Archaeological and local records mention a Neolithic settlement, a settlement from the late Bronze Age, and rural use during the late Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages at the site of Les Royats. The first lords of Gueux mentioned are the archbishops of Reims, followed by the counts of Champagne.
