Champagne Stephane Coquillette Grand Cru "Les Cles" Blanc de Noirs Brut NV
(Champagne, France) - [WA 92] [BH 91] [WS 91]

Stéphane Coquillette is a fourth-generation winemaker in Champagne. His late father, Christian, ran Saint-Chamant from 1950 until 2020, and he encouraged his son to start his own estate when Stéphane was 25. Though mentored by his father, Stéphane developed a very different style of expression at his own house, creating fresher, drier Champagnes, primarily from Chouilly (Grand Cru), Cuis (99% 1er Cru) for Chardonnay, and d’Aÿ (Grand Cru) and Mareuil/Aÿ (99% 1er Cru) for Pinot Noir. Meticulously committed to organic practices, Stéphane avoids herbicides at all costs. Farming is done by hand, including trellising and pruning, which helps avoid disease and allows for a healthy crop. With more than 10 different parcels, he produces several single-vintage and single-vineyard Champagnes — a rarity in this region — and all his wines are small-production. Stéphane Coquillette Champagnes are characteristically precise, fresh and lively.

VINEYARDS & VITICULTURE
100% from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ and mostly from vines planted in 1960. The vineyards are worked in part by plough and then the ground is covered with bark in order to stop erosion and prevent weeds from sprouting. Herbicides are avoided at all costs.

SOILS
Limestone

HARVEST & VINIFICATION
Grapes are slowly pressed, and the wine undergoes malolactic and ages in stainless steel tanks. Dosage 5 g/l. Reserve wines are not used to adjust the blend of the non vintage wines, therefore all are from a single vintage but not marked as such since they do not rest on lees for the three-year mandatory minimum period.