Bar-sur-Seine

Setting on the Seine

Bar-sur-Seine lies in the Aube département, 33 kilometres south-east of Troyes, and is the main town of a small aire d'attraction made up of seven communes. The surrounding landscape is hilly. The Seine flows through the town, and just upstream it is joined by the Ource, which runs for 100 kilometres through 25 communes. Neighbouring communes include Celles-sur-Ource and Villemorien, both names you will find again on bottles of champagne from the region.

Viticulture and climate

Bar-sur-Seine belongs to the Côte des Bar, the southernmost part of Champagne. Pinot Noir dominates here, and it often gives the wines a fruitier, somewhat rounder character than in the north. The town itself, however, is neither grand cru nor premier cru. Within the commune's boundaries, vines cover only a small share of the land: according to the 2018 Corine Land Cover data, 48 per cent is arable land and a good 40 per cent is woodland, while permanent crops account for just 0.9 per cent. A field name such as Les Vignes-du-Mérite still recalls the winegrowing past.

The climate is oceanic, with fresh summers and harsh winters. The nearest weather station, in Celles-sur-Ource five kilometres away, records an average of 11.4 °C and 747 millimetres of rain a year for 1991 to 2020. On 25 July 2019 it measured 40.6 °C there, a figure that shows how much the harvest is shifting here too.

“The nearest weather station, in Celles-sur-Ource five kilometres away, records an average of 11.4 °C and 747 millimetres of rain a year for 1991 to 2020.

History

The Seine valley was settled early, because the tin road linking Britain with the Mediterranean ran through it. The area belonged to the territory of the Lingones. At the end of the 9th century the Normans destroyed the neighbouring settlement of Latisco. The name Bar-sur-Seine is not securely documented until 1068, as BARRUM. Later the Counts of Bar resided here, and only remains of their castle survive today. Among the town's notable figures is Joan I, Queen of Navarre and, as the wife of Philip IV, Queen of France.

Champagner Bollinger

What to see

A walk through the old town is worthwhile before you set off to visit the growers. The source mentions:

• Tour de l'Horloge: a remnant of the old castle, which the townspeople demolished on the orders of Louis XIII after it had suffered badly in the Wars of Religion
• The church of Saint-Étienne, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, with 16th-century statues and an 18th-century organ
• The church of Notre-Dame-du-Chêne
• Tour du Lion and Salle basse, remains of the castle of the Counts of Bar
• Maison Goncourt, the house of the brothers Edmond and Jules de Goncourt
• Chapelle de la Passion

The Carolingian refuge cellar begins in the cellar of the town hall and is not open to visitors.

With 2,858 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2023), Bar-sur-Seine is small. That is exactly what makes it a good starting point for getting to know the Côte des Bar away from the big champagne towns.