Lelarge-Pugeot 2016 Vrigny Blanc de Meuniers Coteaux Champenois AOP

750ml bottle

12% abv

Nose is chalk, wax, and wet pavement. Flavors of lemon zest, pith, flint, cut grass, and flowers. Focused, precise minerality, with limestone and crushed oyster shells. A touch of toastiness, but this is all mineral.

Lesser known than Champagne, yet covering the exact same land area, is the Coteaux Champenois AOC. The family’s Blanc de Meuniers cuvée falls within this rare and sought-after category, a still white wine that captures your attention as easily as the orbit of sparkling wines with which it keeps company. The meunier grapes are gently pressed directly after harvest, and present a still life of the Meunier of the domaine. Delicate in weight, assertively mineral, and expressive of cool climate fruit.

100% Pinot Meunier
Certified Organic 2014, Demeter Certified Biodynamic 2017
45 years old vines on chalk, limestone, clay loam, and sand soils.
Direct pressed with pneumatic press, then fermented in tank with indigenous yeasts. Aged 12 months in Burgundy barrels. No fining or filtration.

Lelarge-Pugeot is an eighth-generation winery in the Premier Cru village of Vrigny on the rolling slopes of the Montagne de Reims (about 15 minutes west of Reims). It is a real family operation, helmed by the two parents, Dominique and Dominique, and supported by their three children, including the Bay Area's own Clémence.

The family’s 8.7 hectares of vineyards, which are planted mostly with Meunier, face northward, offering some protection from the effects of global warming, though Clémence is quick to note that they can now make red wines for the first time in the history of Champagne. The domaine, which has been certified organic since 2014 and Demeter-certified biodynamic since 2017, is comprised of 42 distinct parcels where Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay are grown at elevations of 400 ft.

The wines of Lelarge-Pugeot are bright and full of pizzazz, and the family is producing some electric juice—including Nature et Non Dosé, their no sulfur/no dosage cuvée. Truly remarkable wines all around.