What is it?
“The Champagne wine heritage is not only composed of religious monuments and prestigious residences. It also includes more modest constructions such as vineyard huts, called “loges” in a large part of the Champagne appellation. These aediculae had a utilitarian function before being considered today as precious testimonies of the local wine culture.
Les loges de vigne were initially built from local materials : stone, wood, brick, tile… With only one room, they were used as a storage place for the working tools or as a shelter for the wine growers in case of bad weather or strong heat.
During the Second World War, they were used as hiding places for weapons dropped at night for the resistance fighters or as a refuge for prisoners escaping from the columns on their way to the camps.
With the mechanization of the work of the vineyardThese lodges have gradually lost their usefulness and have been abandoned or even razed. Today, aware of their heritage and landscape value, winegrowers and local authorities are trying to give life back to those that have survived, for example by offering Champagne tastings. Some have been restored in the original spirit. Others have been reinterpreted by architecture students, intervening in the framework of summer universities.
Source: https://www.champagne-patrimoinemondial.org/decouvrir/loges-de-vigne
If you want to know more about les loges de vigne
Listen to the specialists of the Champagne heritage thanks to the replay of the conference organized on this topic for the European Heritage Days 2020
Look for the variety of architecture and styles in the landscape
Built with local materials such as wood, millstone, brick or tile, some loges de vigne are based on the architectural characteristics of the Mother Houses, such as the Mont-Aigu vineyard lodge, owned by Moët et Chandon, located in the commune of Chouilly. Built with noble materials such as brick, stone or slate, the facade of this lodge is richly decorated (finial, worked bands in limestone, semicircular opening…).
Natural testimonies
At the Jardin de vignes : belvedere of Cramant, a loge de vigne has been restored in order to bring a testimony of these vernacular constructions that once dotted the vineyard and that are on the way to disappear. An exhibition on the subject is installed on the interior walls of the hut.
Contemporary loge de vigne
Discover also contemporary interpretations of this little known wine heritage :
The Summer University of the School of Architecture of Châlons-en-Champagne gives students the opportunity, since 2015, to design and build micro-architectures of Champagne.
On the territory of Epernay Agglo Champagne, discover these contemporary huts in
Cumières (projects ” Ecume des vignes ” and ” Le Peigne “)
Moussy (projects ” Loge pinard and ” Loge table “)