Coteaux Champenois

The most planted grape in Champagne, on 38% of the vineyards. In champagne it gives body and structure, with aromas of red fruit and of flowers such as rose and violet. Together with Meunier it is one of the two black grapes allowed for Coteaux; the specification names those two for red and rosé Coteaux.

Les Copains du Bas-Chêne, a red Coteaux from Aurore & Florian Laval, comes from vines planted in 1968 on the lieu-dit Le Bas-Chêne in Boursault. It ferments with indigenous yeasts in oak barrels.

Meunier, also called Pinot Meunier, grows on 31% of the vineyards and is at home in the Vallée de la Marne. In champagne it adds roundness: supple, fruity wine with notes of yellow fruit, which usually develops faster than wine from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It copes better with spring frost than those two.

La Villesenière makes a red wine from it in Boursault, from a plot planted in 1919. Régis Poissinet makes a white and a rosé from it in Cuchery, in oak barrels with indigenous yeasts.

The great white grape of Champagne, on 31% of the vineyards. It is particularly suited to chalk that comes right up to the surface, as in the Côte des Blancs. In champagne it brings great freshness and delicate aromas of flowers and citrus, sometimes a mineral touch, and it is an ideal grape for wine that is kept for a long time.

La Mule, a white Coteaux from Aurore & Florian Laval, comes from old vines on the plot Le Moulin La Mule in Boursault, rooted deep in limestone.

An old white grape, in Champagne since the sixteenth century. In 2025 there were fewer than 21 hectares of it. It yields little and ripens later than Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. When fully ripe it is fresh and lively, with fine notes of lemon, and in champagne it gives a smoky nose that you find again on the palate.

Liébart-Régnier makes Coteaux L'Enclos from it, from the lieu-dit L'Enclos in Baslieux-sous-Châtillon, in oak barrels and with full malolactic fermentation, which softens the acidity.

A very rare grape, and a difficult one: it ripens late, is sensitive to bad weather and is hard to press. Yet in champagne it brings great finesse, with aromas of flowers such as hawthorn and carnation and of fruit such as vineyard peach, apple and quince.

With us you taste it in the champagne Hortï 2020 from Liébart-Régnier.

Pinot Blanc belongs to the Pinot family: it is derived from Pinot Gris, and so from Pinot Noir. In champagne it gives volume and power, and it produces more regular crops than Pinot Gris. Most of it grows in the Côte des Bar, often on chalky marl.

It too is in the Hortï 2020 from Liébart-Régnier, together with Arbane and Petit Meslier.

The grey mutation of Pinot Noir: the same plant, but with a grey skin. It has low to moderate acidity and builds up a lot of sugar. In champagne it gives pronounced notes of dried fruit and smoke, which is why in Champagne it is also called l'enfumé, the smoked one. It ripens early and yields little.

The best-known places for Coteaux lie on slopes facing east and south. They catch the most light in spring and autumn, which helps flowering and ripening. Thanks to the slope, excess water drains away by itself, and chalk in the subsoil gives water back in dry spells.

The grapes usually come from old vines. They bear fewer and smaller bunches, and their roots reach deep into the ground. That gives the wine more concentration and complexity. At Régis Poissinet the vines are 35 years old on average.

The bunches must stay whole, so they are picked by hand, into crates with small holes so that no juice is left standing. For a white wine from black grapes, the pressing is gentle, so that the juice takes on no colour. That is how Régis Poissinet makes a white Coteaux from Pinot Meunier.

Wood chips are not allowed, so anyone who wants to age the wine on wood uses barrels. That ageing gives the wine fullness and balance. All our Coteaux age in oak; La Mule from Aurore & Florian Laval spends 24 months in barrels that previously held red wine.