Transforming a former hospice into a wine tourism site!

April 2023

Agence nationale de la cohésion des territoires (ANCT)

In order to strengthen Les Riceys’ tourist appeal and expand the offering to bring new visitors to the area, the commune has been working since 2015 to set up a Wine Tourism Reception and Accommodation Center. To this end, the town council has decided to acquire the buildings of the former 19th-century hospice, an emblematic heritage of a rural commune that relies on the countryside and Champagne culture for its development.

Les Riceys is a rural village, relatively isolated from the towns of the Aube region. It’s on the edge of the department, close to the Côte d’Or, Yonne and Haute-Marne. The largest Champagne terroir, with 866 ha under appellation, Les Riceys is also the only Champagne village in France to have three A.O.C. wines within its boundaries.

The project

The commune of Les Riceys (10340), located in the Aube department, and more precisely on the Côte des Bar in Champagne, wanted to convert its former hospice, transformed a few years ago into a viticultural school, in order to create a wine tourism hotel. As the flagship commune of the Côte des Bar en Champagne region, it is home to a large number of winegrowers and is deeply rooted in the winegrowing culture.

Against this backdrop, and with a view to preserving its tangible and intangible heritage, the Commune des Riceys wishes to develop the former winegrowing school into a wine tourism establishment, comprising a hotel, restaurant, seminar rooms, wellness area, garden and cellar.

Although all the local players agreed that the village of Les Riceys had a number of assets and a high tourism potential, capable of contributing to the development of the department, the local authority needed engineering support to verify the appropriateness of its project, as well as to help with the financial and scheduling aspects.

Thanks to the territorial delegation of the ANCT, the Agency therefore made available, at 100% cost, a consultancy specialized in tourism to support the Les Riceys commune in its project.

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