Grower Champagne: The Rising Stars

The Intuition Nature is a blend of a few different vineyard sites with sandy and silty soils from 30 to 60 years old. The selection and blend changes slightly each year, with Alexandre working by Intuition to achieve the elegance he is after. With 65% this is Pinot Meunier dominated, a grape Lamblot is famous for, taking inspiration from Jerome Prevost. Expect a core of bright fruit, red cherry, red apple and some subtle floral notes.

Mouvance or ‘movement’ is a great entry into the range of Alexandre Lamblot. It is a Pinot Noir dominated blend with around 10% of Meunier and Chardonnay. 50% of the blend is from a Perpetuelle Reserve started in 2017, with the balance coming from the base vintage. This is medium bodied, bright with pure citrus and nice minerality. Like most of the range this is a Brut Nature.

The Cuvée Amplitude is very exciting Blanc de Blancs not made every vintage. It is from two small plots of old vine Chardonnay. The 2019 comes with a lovely richness, weight and depth, well balanced with tension and minerality. There is opulence and elegance. Also a Brut Nature.

Les Cochène is a 100% Pinot Noir, Blanc de Noirs, from a single vineyard in Chenay. It has a floral nose, with a nice core of red apple, citrus and a fresh satisfying finish. Although the wine has seen some oak ageing, it is still styled as elegance over power. It is bottled as Zero dosage with a small amount of natural residual sugar at 3.8 grams per litre.

La Vigne à Vovonne is 100% Pinot Noir from Vrigny named after Alexandre’s grandmother. The nose has spice, ginger and stone fruits, while the palate is serious and complex, with depth, structure and a fuller body, rounded off with a lip-smacking saline finish. Only 240 bottles were produced.

Le Terroir is sourced from 25 small plots across Adrien’s holdings and it’s a great representation of his vineyards. This is an equal blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with 20% reserve wine from the previous vintage (2020). The cooler vintage and north facing vineyards combine to make a bright champagne with tension and clear linear character. It shows notes of pear, citrus, gingers and white flower.

This is one of the few wines in Adrien's line up made from 100% Chardonnay. It comes from one of his oldest parcels, planted in the early 1960s by massal-selection. It is a wine that speaks of its components: the Chardonnay grapes and the chalky limestone soils it grows in. This is pithy and driven.

Les 2 Terroirs is a blend of fruit from Verzy and Bouzy with 5% still wine added to the blend. It has notes of blood orange, red cherry and stones fruits. The palate is medium-to-full bodied and slightly more savoury, with nice minerality.

This Blanc de Noirs ('the' variety) tells you a lot about the ambitions and direction of this young domaine. It is concentrated and tense, with linear definition.

This is one of the few wines in Adrien's line up made from 100% Chardonnay. It comes from one of his oldest parcels, planted in the early 1960s by massal-selection. It is a wine that speaks of its components: the Chardonnay grapes and the chalky limestone soils it grows in. This is pithy and driven.

The 7 Cépages is a unique and quite fascinating wine. It is Grand Cru fruit from Verzy in with a blend of all the seven permitted grape varieties for champagne, in roughly equal balance, not just the famous 3 that dominated 99% of modern champagne. This is elegant and complex with layers of citrus, peach and brioche. The bubbles are fine with a long precise finish.

This 100% Chardonnay is a selection of the best base wines vinified without sulphur. Austere, but with future potential.

The Atavique means Atavistic or returning to an earlier state of being, in reference to Sebastien introduction of agro-forestry and biodynamic farming. This is a blend of three Grand Cru hillside plots in Verzy. Around 60/40 Pinot Noir to Chardonnay, this is the main wine of the estate. This is crisp and chalky with hints of citrus, apple and vanilla. Medium bodied with a soft inviting texture and fresh finish.

The Ascendant is a deeper colour and more concentrated wine than the Atavique. It is the same blend of 60/40 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but with 50% of the juice coming from a solera of demi-muids going back to 2010. It has a lovely purity of fleshy fruit, a slightly earthy character, and good minerality. It is well balanced with a long finish.

The Ineffable is 100% Grand Cru Pinot Noir from Verzy. It is captivating from the ouset. Although rich is style is have lovely precision and focus. Red apple intertwines with white pepper and brioche. Finishing with real energy. Dosage is 1 gram per litre.

The Angélique is 100% Grand Cru Chardonany from Verzy, coming from vines planted on a light limestrone-clay soil that produced a pure, light and ethereal style. This gives the wine its Angelic name. This is finely tuned with citrus, chalk, white flower and white pepper. This Blanc de Blancs is hard to ignore.

The 2016 L'Opiniâtre is a blend of barrels of Grand Cru Verzy Chardonnay that were all vinified and bottled without sulfur. It was vinified in oak and aged on lees for over 60 months. It is savory, rich, complex and nutty underpinned by real energy, and with citrus and floral notes.

The 7 Cépages is a unique and quite fascinating wine. It is Grand Cru fruit from Verzy in with a blend of all the seven permitted grape varieties for champagne, in roughly equal balance, not just the famous 3 that dominated 99% of modern champagne. This is elegant and complex with layers of citrus, peach and brioche. The bubbles are fine with a long precise finish.

Les Leriens is a massal selection field blend of roughly equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, with a smattering of 10% Pinot Noir. The nose of the 2018 leaps out and glass and draws you in immediately. Notes of lemon give way to dried apple, flowers and spice. This is complex, interesting and very enjoyable.

The Les Fources 2019 is from a single south facing vineyard of 100 % Chardonnay. There is lovely orchard fruit purity, citrus and dried flowers. This is vibrant with a strong racy core which balances the intensity of the vintage. It finishes long and energetic.

Naturellement is a Blanc de Noirs from 100% Pinot Meunier from the Marne Valley. It has a nose of fleshy stone fruit, orange peel, dried herbs and red apple. The palate has pure fruit and an explosive finish. Bottled with zero dosage.

Le Chemin des Plants is a 100% Chardonnay. The cooler 2021 vintage is a particularly elegant rendition with notes of citrus, white flower and chalk. There is plenty of energy and precision.

Les Leriens is a massal selection field blend of roughly equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, with a smattering of 10% Pinot Noir. The nose has savory aromas of mint, white pepper and some floral notes. The palate has a lovely rich texture, with grapefruit and dried apple. This is bottled with zero dosage.

Cramant Grand Cru produced exceptional Chardonnay and this Blanc de Blancs lives up to the reputation. The 2020 is generous, complex and exciting from the offing but a good core of tension and minerality to balance it out. Bottled with no dosage.

Aurélien Laherte is a champion of Champagne's lesser-known other varieties. While a few other growers frequently use them in their blend, brave and few are those making single variety expressions, like this Petit Meslier. It's chalky, tight, austere, and fierce, with notes of green apple and herbal echoes. This is not Champagne for the faint-hearted, but it is for the brave.

The Les Rouges Maisons 2019 is a fine Blanc de Noirs from Pinot Noir vines planted in 1983 on Chavot's clay, flint, and schist-rich mid-slope. Naturally fermented in neutral oak barrels and disgorged in November 2022 with a low 2 g/L dosage, it features a chewy, limestone-driven austerity, racy freshness, and a chalk-infused, sapid finish. Outstanding, poised, and beautifully balanced

Like Agrapart's famous cuvée, this uses all seven permitted varieties of Champagne. It throws a spotlight on the lesser known indigenous varieties like Arbanne and Petit Meslier. It uses a base of solera reserve (going back to 2005), which helps round out the spikier aspects of some of these high acid varieties, and weaves together an incredibly complex unity.

Les Empreintes is a 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend, from a West and North facing vineyard respectively. It goes through no malolactic fermentation. The 2018 opens with aromas of orange peel, white flower and brioche. It is full bodied, rich and multilayered, leaning more on the savory side. This is generous and enjoyable.

Ultratradition is the most important cuvée of Laherte Frères. Fruit comes from Côteaux Sud d’Epernay, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs, with around 40% from reserve wine of previous vintages. This complex and Meunier-dominant cuvée offers citrus zest, baked bread, and floral aromas. The palate brings juicy berry depth, a supple texture, saline freshness, and superb food-friendly versatility.

Laherte’s Brut Nature Blancs de Blancs is beautifully balanced, blending 50% 2022 and 50% barrel-aged reserve wines. It bursts with green apple, lemon, coconut, and white blossom aromas. Sourced from clay-limestone soils, the medium-bodied palate balances fleshy fruit weight with a chiseled, linear structure, crisp tension, and a long, saline finish.

The Blancs de Noirs is a rich and exuberant blend of equal parts Pinot Noir and Meunier. It offers a gorgeous aromatic presence, with kirsch, cranberry, pear, and white pepper notes mingling with chalk and dried flowers. The palate is vinous, vibrant, and beautifully balanced, showing racy acidity and a precise, saline finish.

Les Vignes d’Autrefois is a 100% Pinot Meunier Blanc de Noirs from historically important parcel-selected vines planted between 1947 and 1953 in Chavot and Mancy. The 2021 has a vinous, highly complex nose of kirsch, cranberry, pear, and dried flowers. The palate is vibrant and medium-bodied, showing exceptional balance, racy acidity, structured chalky phenolics, and an incisive, saline-driven finish.

Les Grandes Crayeres comes from two chalky west facing parcels of 40 and 60 year old vines. This doesn’t go through malolactic fermentation to retain the energy and poise of the wine. The 2021 is a bright vintage. Notes of lemon zest, oyster shell, chalk, white pepper. The palate is taut, chalky with a lovely minerality.

This is a fairly recent addition to the Laherte stable: a fresh, spicy, and lightly fruity style of rosé. Its production is tightly limited. Aurélien Laherte is the seventh generation of his family to grow vines in the village of Chavot-Courcourt, just to the south of Epernay in between the Côte des Blancs and Vallée de la Marne in a sub-region known as Côteaux Sud d’Épernay. He and his family work 10 hectares across 75 parcels here and his distinctive wines have earned him a strong following. Aurélien is one of a group of dynamic young growers, along with his friend Raphaël Bérèche, who are bent on natural methods and achieving excquisite terroir expression.

The 1er Cru L’Aventure is a blend of Avize, Cramant and Cuis, with 40% reserve wines added. It doesn’t go through malolactic fermentation but spent over 2 years on lees. It offers up lemon zest, jasmine and green apple. Its medium bodied with a precise fresh finish.

Boréal is from 6 cooler north facing sites in the Côte des Bar. This lighter style of Pinot Noir is medium bodied and lifted. It has a generous nose with notes of wild strawberry, some red cherry, orange peel and quince. The finish is long savoury and dry.

Clandestin’s Fiole from the ‘Les Passagers label,’ is a single-vineyard, zero-dosage champagne from north-facing Ville-sur-Arce Chardonnay vines in Kimmeridgian "Supérieur" soils. The 2022-vintage cuvée unwinds with aromas of fresh almonds, orange oil, honeysuckle, and cider. The palate has a rich core of fruit with a saline chatacter. This textured champagne if for immediate enjoyment.

Pierre Gerbais’ Champ Viole is 100% Chardonnay from a south facing parcel of 50 year old vines. 50% comes from a Perpetual Reserve going back to 2011. It has classico aromas of pear, brioche, lemon and white flowers. The palate is vibrant and joyous, with a very fine mousse. Lots of depth and elegance.

Les Terres Fines or ‘the fine land’ deserves the excitement its getting among many Champagne lovers. It is a blend of 1er Cru Chardonnay from Cuis and Grauves. 30% comes from a perpetual reserve that goes back to 1986, this was well before many our producers started this practice. This is full bodied, complex and fleshy, with peach, red apple, white flowers and toasted brioche held together with focus and energy.

Tarlant’s Brut Nature Zero is a long standing favourite of many of the team at Lay & Wheeler. Tarlant are one of the leading producers of the precise Zero Dosage style, and this cuvee represents the house well. It is an equal blend of the main three varieties. Here the base vintage is 2017, with 40% of the blend coming from older reserve wine. It is medium to full bodied but in an angular energetic style. It has lovely orchard fruit, citrus, white pepper, chalk and fresh bread. There is a good grip and a long finish.

In the world of Grower Champagnes, this cuvée stands out as a unique and distinctive voice. It comes from a single vineyard named ‘Les Sables’ in the village of Oeuilly, where the Tarlant family have been based since 1687. It’s made from 100% ungrafted Chardonnay vines, planted in 1962. The sandy soils of this site are particularly inhospitable to phylloxera, meaning the vines could be planted in this ancient manner, and the resulting purity of expression in the wine is arresting. There’s a sweet floral note on the nose, leading to a smoky echo of dried camomile. Its chewy acidity gives the palate extraordinary youth and energy; it’s incredible to think the wine is almost 20 years old. It’s spent almost all that time ageing in bottle (sur lattes) before disgorgement in 2024 has preserved the primary apple character of the fruit and chalky length of the wine with remarkable clarity. The zero dosage (no added sugar in the liqueur de tirage at disgorgement) means the wine has a savoury bite to cut through the richness achieved through long ageing. This is an outstanding portrait of the great 2006 vintage, which has produced wine that will drink beautifully for years to come. 0 g/l dosage. Made in tiny quantities.