Channes

Location

Channes lies in the south of the Aube département, around 50 kilometres south-south-east of Troyes. Administratively, the commune belongs to the arrondissement of Troyes and the canton of Les Riceys. Neighbouring villages are Bragelogne-Beauvoir to the north, Vertault to the east and south-east, and Arthonnay to the south and west. With 108 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2023), Channes is a very small village with scattered buildings, a long way from any town of size.

One curiosity is its altitude: the town hall stands at 306 metres, which makes it joint holder, with Fontette, of the title of highest town hall in the Aube. The highest point in the commune is the Moulin à Vent at 334 metres, part of the Côtes de Bar.

Landscape and climate

The commune is shaped mainly by farming and woodland. According to Corine Land Cover data, in 2018 around 54.5 per cent of the land was arable and 37.2 per cent forest. Permanent crops, which can include vineyards, account for 6.3 per cent, and only 2 per cent is built up. The source gives no more precise figures for vineyard area.

“According to Corine Land Cover data, in 2018 around 54.5 per cent of the land was arable and 37.2 per cent forest.

The climate is considered temperate, with fresh summers. At the nearest weather station, in Cruzy-le-Châtel about 10 kilometres away, the annual mean from 1991 to 2020 was 11.1 °C, with rainfall totalling around 846 millimetres. That station also recorded 40.7 °C on 25 July 2019, and minus 21 °C in January 1985. For winegrowers, swings like these are a familiar theme.

Channes and champagne

Channes is neither grand cru nor premier cru. Anyone looking for a name of world renown will not find one here, but rather a rural corner of the Côte des Bar in the south of Champagne, where pinot noir shapes the region as a whole. If you would like to visit growers locally, it is worth asking around beforehand, as the source names no producers.

Champagner Keller Malakoff

History

The name appears early in the records: in 1151 as “Chaunnes” in a charter of the Abbey of Quincy, in 1219 as “Cheonnaium” in a cartulary of the Abbey of Molesme, and in 1381 as “Chaonnes”. The present spelling is attested from the 17th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a bailli appointed by the Abbey of Molesme dispensed justice in the village.

Sights

• The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin (Église de la Nativité-de-la-Vierge)
• The Fontaine Sainte-Anne: its water is said to protect against contagious diseases

Both fit nicely into a drive through the hills of the Aube, for instance on the way to Les Riceys, the main town of the canton.