Courcemain

Location

Courcemain lies in the south of the Marne département, right on the border with the Aube. The village sits in the valley of the Superbe, a quiet river valley away from the well-known wine routes. You reach Sézanne after about 19 kilometres to the north-west, while Fère-Champenoise is roughly 16 kilometres to the north. Châlons-en-Champagne is about 50 kilometres away, and Troyes roughly 36 kilometres to the south. Neighbouring communes include Boulages, Faux-Fresnay, Plancy-l'Abbaye and Saint-Saturnin.

Administratively, the village belongs to the arrondissement of Épernay and the canton of Vertus-Plaine Champenoise. Since 2017 it has been part of the Communauté de communes de Sézanne Sud-Ouest Marnais.

Landscape and climate

Courcemain is a thoroughly rural commune with scattered buildings. Land use (as of 2018) breaks down like this:

• Arable land: 84.1 per cent
• Woodland: 8.5 per cent
• Wetlands: 4.8 per cent
• Built-up areas: 2.5 per cent

Several small watercourses cross the commune, among them the Ruisseau du Moulin, which flows into the Aube near Boulages. The climate is temperate oceanic. For the period 1971 to 2000, the mean annual temperature was 10.3 °C, and rainfall averaged 668 millimetres a year.

“The appeal lies more in the quiet: around 95 people live here (2023), a little over 8 per cent fewer than in 2017.

The name and what to see

The village name is documented from the early 12th century, at that time as Corcemain (1109). Later forms such as Curcimain (1194) and Corsimanum (1205) appear, before the present spelling emerged in the 16th century via Coursemain.

The sources name the church of Saint-Martin as the sight worth seeing. Do not expect grand monuments. The appeal lies more in the quiet: around 95 people live here (2023), a little over 8 per cent fewer than in 2017. Of the 60 dwellings in 2020, almost all were detached houses, and just under 18 per cent served as second homes, noticeably more than the average for the département.

Schaumwein aus der Champagne, Champagner Servieren

Courcemain and champagne

Courcemain is neither grand cru nor premier cru, and the sources available to me mention neither vineyards nor champagne houses. The village is therefore no destination for a tasting trip, but rather an example of Champagne beyond the vine slopes: arable farming, small villages and wide open country.

It becomes interesting for you as a starting point or a stop along the way. Sézanne to the north and Troyes to the south are easy to reach, and from there the roads lead to the vineyards of the Sézannais and the Aube. Anyone who stays overnight or drives through gets to see the hinterland that is also part of the region.