'Chemin de Reims' Champagne Extra Brut 2017 | Chartogne Taillet

Taking its name from the lieu-dit (single parcel of vines) from which it heralds, Chemin de Reims is a Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay) champagne of remarkable history and originality. A small, well-exposed plot of just over 1ha facing on the hills of Merfy, vines have been cultivated here since the ninth century, as documented in a surviving letter between bishops in the Middle Ages.

Now Estate-owned, vines sit on free-draining, iron-rich Thanetian sands over chalk bedrock—a generous soil that is worked under a natural cover crop to limit vine vigour. Planted to 85% Chardonnay and 15% Arbanne (in 1980, 1995 and 2011), vines are well-suited to the lieu-dit, conveying fullness and structure with a uniquely sanguine (ferric) texture on the palate.

A Blanc de Blancs champagne of 100% Chardonnay, Chemin de Reims is aged in oak casks of 350 to 600 L, using ‘more reductant and protective’ casks with regular top-ups at the end of fermentation to preserve the originality of the plot. The 2017 release was disgorged in January 2022.


With time, the cuvée unravels, exhaling notes of apple compote, crème fraiche and honey drizzled over fresh figs. The omnipotence of iron-rich soils is deeply apparent as Chardonnay sheds its typicity, displaying unique characteristics of vinosity, tension and distinction—powerful in expression and immersive, yet taut, in structure. Yellow nectarine transitions to ripe yellow plum as toast and minerality frame the fine finish, percolating and pervasive.

About the domaine:

The vineyards of Merfy, seven kilometers north of Reims, lie on the southern slopes of the Massif de Saint-Thierry in the Montagne de Reims. These slopes were planted shortly after the arrival of the Romans and monks of the neighboring Abbey of Saint-Thierry expanded the vineyards in the 7th century. By the 9th century, the vines surrounding the abbey represented the single largest concentration of vines in Champagne and the wines from Merfy earned a great reputation and found their way to the Royal table.

Today, Chartogne-Taillet remains the only RM producer in the village and under Alexandre Chartogne’s guidance, the wines of Chartogne-Taillet are some of the most sought-after Champagnes being produced. Alexandre worked with Anslem Selosse, who he describes as “my wine father”, returning home in 2006. The first wine that he produced was the 2006 vintage of Les Barres, a very special parcel of ungrafted Meunier, planted in 1952. The soil in this parcel is sand for almost 3 meters before the roots reach the chalk bedrock, allowing the vines “to live in two environments”.

In 2007 Alexandre assumed control of the entire estate. In the early years, Alexandre experimented with lots of different vessels for fermentation and elevage, including amphorae and concrete eggs. Watching the wines, vineyards and Alexandre himself evolve over the last 10 years has been extraordinary.

Grapes from sustainable farming, natural yeast and low added sulfites.