Les Riceys is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. It is situated in an important viticultural area, and in particular is known for Rosé des Riceys wine.

With its 866 ha of vines, it is the commune that has the largest wine-growing area in all of Champagne.

Les Riceys was formed in 1790 from the reunion of the former parishes of Ricey-Haut, Ricey Haute Rive and Ricey-Bas.

Ricey-Bas was founded in the Gallo-Roman era on the pertica of the Civitas des Lingons, Ricey-Hautes-Rives and Ricey-Haut being more recent. The name of the locality is attested in the Riciaco form in the Merovingian period. It is a Gallo-Roman toponymic type, based on the Latin man's name (carried by a Gaul) Riccius followed by the Gallic property suffix -*ako(n).

At Ricey-Haut (Saint Vincent, fiefdom held by the bishops of Chalon-sur-Saône; there was also the fiefdom of Île Saint-Louis owned by the Abbey of Molesme), we find the counts of Nevers, Auxerre and Tonnerre (the branch of the Counts of Nevers, merged into the ducal family of Burgundy in 1369; and in 1435, Duke Philippe acquired the counties of Auxerre and Bar-sur-Seine by the Treaty of Arras): thus, we find in the 13th century Marguerite de Tonnerre queen of Sicily, or Pierre de Courtenay; and in the 14th century, Mahaut de Chalon Auxerre, daughter of Count Jean III, and her husband Jean II d'Antigny sire de Savigny et Sainte-Croix, married in 1364, without issue.

Ricey Haute Rive - Human occupation dates back to the Gallo-Roman era, as clearly indicated by the toponym Reciacus (the suffix iacus being attached to the name of an owner) and some archaeological discoveries (at places called Paulin and Corroy, substructions dated by imperial coins of the 2nd century). Merovingian stone coffins have been unearthed at a place called Chancogné.

It is at this time that we find the first texts. Between 711 and 719 Ingoara and Leotheria, sisters of the bishop of Sens Saint Ebbon, received on a precarious basis from the Sénonaise abbey Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, one the villa of Ricey, the other the church of Saint- Pierre of the same place with the manse which is attached to it, the land domain necessary for the maintenance of the servant and the building. The precarious concession assigns ecclesiastical goods to lay people, which they exploit for a fee. Often it is a question of the simple recognition of a state of fact, the usurpation of the properties of the Church by local potentates. Indeed, in the 12th century, the Count of Tonnerre, a descendant of the Ebbon family, controlled the parish without even paying the tax due to Saint-Pierre-le-Vif. As part of the Gregorian reform, the Bishop of Langres succeeded in wresting from him the patronage he gave to the monks of Moutier-Saint-Jean. As for the villa, a large rural estate, it became the seat of the castle and of a secular seigniory which took its independence. After the year one thousand, there is no trace of a link with Sens; the lords of Riceys pay homage, as vassals, to the counts of Champagne.

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