Fèrebrianges

Location

Fèrebrianges lies in the south-west of the Marne département, about 52 kilometres south-south-west of Reims. By road it is around 30 kilometres to Épernay, 34 kilometres to Dormans and 41 kilometres to Châlons-en-Champagne. Agriculturally, the area belongs to the Brie champenoise. Administratively, the village falls within the arrondissement of Épernay and the canton of Dormans-Paysages de Champagne. Neighbouring communes are Étoges, Vert-Toulon and Congy.

The commune covers 719 hectares, with altitudes ranging from 145 to 247 metres. The village itself sits in the middle of the commune, on the slopes of the Côte d'Île-de-France, looking towards the Montagne de Toulon. To the north-west the land rises to a plateau crossed by the D933 departmental road.

Viticulture

Fèrebrianges is surrounded by champagne vines, but has no classification as Grand Cru or Premier Cru. It is a village of simple sites, where winegrowing sits alongside arable farming. The land-use figures make this plain:

• Arable land: 65.7 per cent
• Permanent crops, which include vines: 17.3 per cent
• Woodland: 10.9 per cent
• Built-up area: 3.9 per cent

If you want to get to know Champagne away from the big names, this is exactly what you will find here: vine slopes, fields and woods, without the crowds.

“The village is small: the commune had 127 inhabitants on 1 January 2023.

Nature and climate

In the north-west of the commune lie the ponds of Étang des Grands Grès and Étang des Grès, surrounded by woodland, mostly oak and hornbeam. The area is designated an ecologically valuable zone (ZNIEFF) and is home to rare plants and around forty bird species. In the south-east, the ZNIEFF of the Marais de Saint-Gond, with its alkaline fens, also extends into the commune.

The climate is temperate oceanic. The nearest Météo-France weather station, in Chouilly, recorded an annual mean temperature of 11.4 °C and an average rainfall of 668.9 millimetres a year for 1991 to 2020.

Veuve Clicquot Tasting

History and sights

The village name is recorded from the 12th century, then in the form Feria Breisangie (between 1133 and 1142). In the Middle Ages the word Fère or Ferté meant a fortress. Another interpretation traces it back to the Germanic fara, meaning settlement or family. The inhabitants, incidentally, are called Prussiens.

The one sight the source names is the church of Saint-Médard. The village is small: the commune had 127 inhabitants on 1 January 2023. Of its 88 dwellings, 99 per cent are detached houses, which suits a rural place with scattered buildings.

Fèrebrianges makes a good quiet stop on a drive along the D933, which links Montmirail with Châlons-en-Champagne to the north of the commune. From here it is only a few kilometres to Étoges.