Cuisles

Location

Cuisles lies in the west of the Marne département, within the Montagne de Reims Regional Nature Park. The village sits in a small valley carved out by the Maquerelle stream, which flows south towards Châtillon-sur-Marne. On both sides the hills rise above 200 metres. It is about 36 kilometres by road to Reims, and the commune belongs to the city's catchment area. In agricultural terms it counts as part of the Tardenois region.

Its neighbouring communes are Olizy, Jonquery, Baslieux-sous-Châtillon, Châtillon-sur-Marne and Anthenay. At 277 hectares, Cuisles is small, and in 2023 it had 133 residents.

Viticulture and landscape

Cuisles has neither grand cru nor premier cru status. What you find here is a rural village with scattered buildings, not a winegrowing town with famous names. The land use still tells you a good deal: around 87 per cent of the commune is farmed. Arable land takes the largest share, at a good 59 per cent. Permanent crops, which in Champagne usually means vines, make up roughly 14.5 per cent. The rest is mixed agricultural land (13.2 per cent) and woodland (12.9 per cent).

“Over the years 1971 to 2000 the average annual temperature was 10.6 °C, with about 735 millimetres of rainfall.

The climate is oceanic. Over the years 1971 to 2000 the average annual temperature was 10.6 °C, with about 735 millimetres of rainfall. The nearby weather station at Chambrecy recorded a high of 40.3 °C on 25 July 2019 and a low of minus 22.1 °C on 17 January 1985. For winegrowing, such extremes are familiar territory: winter frost and summer heat are part of life in Champagne.

History

The name of the village is documented from the 12th century, then in the form Cullia or Cuillia (1146). The spelling later varied widely, with versions such as Coille, Quille or Cuylles. In church terms the village belonged to the deanery of Châtillon and the diocese of Soissons. Before the Revolution there was a château here, owned by a Monsieur Simon L'Espagnol. From 1973 to 2006 Cuisles was part of Châtillon-sur-Marne. Since 1 March 2006 it has been an independent commune again.

Lanson Champagner

Sights and visiting

• Church of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais
• Étang du Moulin, a small pond of 1.3 hectares
• the hills and woods of the nature park around the Maquerelle valley

For wine lovers, Cuisles is above all a quiet stop off the well-known routes. The larger Châtillon-sur-Marne lies just to the south and makes a good base for exploring the Marne valley and the Montagne de Reims. Administratively, Cuisles has belonged to the Communauté urbaine du Grand Reims since 2017.