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Haute-Marne is the IGP title for wines produced in the administrative department of the same name in northeastern France. The department sits roughly in the center of a triangle made by the famous wine regions of Champagne, Alsace and Burgundy. A range of wine styles are produced in the department, from still wines based on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to sparkling wines made in the methode traditionnelle.
The department, 110 miles (175km) southeast of Paris, is dominated by the Langres Plateau that rises above the surrounding landscape providing the watershed of the Seine river. The Marne river, which flows through the hills, gives the department its name and most vineyards can be found on the low, undulating hills that characterize the plateau.
Haute-Marne has a cool continental climate with some oceanic influence that comes mostly in the form of rain. Vineyards tend to occupy sites where there is a slight rain shadow thanks to the surrounding topography, and south-facing slopes provide good sunlight exposure. Clay limestone soils throughout the department have proved suited to viticulture, particularly in areas where a looser, stonier texture promotes good water drainage.
Vineyards previously occupied a lot more land in Haute-Marne, although the phylloxera crisis, and a manpower shortage brought about by World War I and the 1918 influenza pandemic saw vineyard land decimated in the early 20th Century. A resurgence of sorts in the 1980s has seen a small revival for winegrowing in Haute-Marne. Since 2009, the Vin de Pays de la Haute-Marne denomination has been replaced with the Haute-Marne IGP, a category more closely aligned with European Union labeling conventions.
