Chartogne-Taillet Chemin de Reims 2020
We have 2 in stock (Inventory is live and accurate)
The Land
Blanc de Blancs in Champagne usually means chalk, and it usually means the Côte des Blancs. Chemin de Reims is neither. The parcel sits in Merfy, a village in the Massif de Saint-Thierry northwest of Reims, well outside the slopes that get attention, and its soil is sand, iron-rich and free-draining. Merfy as a whole is a patchwork of chalk, clay, sandstone, limestone and sand, which is why Alexandre Chartogne treats his thirteen parcels as thirteen separate wines rather than components of a blend. Chemin de Reims occupies a south-facing slope in the southern part of the village, planted to Chardonnay between 1986 and 2005. The vineyard was first named in writing in the ninth century. Sand here gives Chardonnay aromatic lift and a finer, less rigid structure than chalk does.
The Wine
Chartogne-Taillet Chemin de Reims 2020 is a vintage-dated single-parcel Blanc de Blancs, 100% Chardonnay, finished as Extra Brut. Fermentation and aging take place in 228-liter barrels that the estate buys new and then keeps in rotation for years, so only a small share of the wood is new in any one year. The barrel work builds texture without leaving oak flavor behind. Each parcel ferments separately on its own native yeasts. Dosage is 2.5 grams per liter and this release was disgorged in October 2024. Fresh apricot, grapefruit zest, jasmine, roasted hazelnut, then a tightly wound medium to full body, driving acidity, chalky extract and a long, precise finish. The 2020 harvest was among the earliest ever recorded in Champagne, hot and dry, with small crops of clean fruit and no botrytis.
The People
Chartogne-Taillet is the only récoltant-manipulant left in Merfy, which tells you how far off the map this village sits. Alexandre Chartogne has run the domaine since 2006 and rebuilt it around parcel identity instead of a house style: each site ferments and ages in whatever vessel suits it, barrel, concrete egg or underground tank, and nothing is standardized across the cellar. The vineyards have been worked organically since 2002 without certification, with chickens and sheep in the rows, roughly half the estate plowed by horse, and no synthetic herbicides or pesticides. Beyond the Merfy parcels, the family farms small holdings of Chardonnay in Avize and Oger. This is the strongest argument anyone in Champagne is currently making that sand can stand alongside chalk.
Food Pairing
The texture here wants food with some richness to push against. Roast a whole chicken with lemon under the skin and a lot of thyme, and the acidity cuts the fat while the hazelnut side of the wine meets the browned skin. Scallops seared hard in butter and finished with brown butter and capers work on salinity. A plate of raw oysters with nothing but lemon is the simplest test and the wine passes it. For something heartier, try a risotto with leeks and parmesan, where the barrel texture and the rice meet in the middle. This is the bottle to open when you want Champagne to be the meal rather than the toast.
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Champagne is the northernmost major wine region in France, defined by its cool climate, chalky soils, and centuries-old tradition of sparkling wine production. Centered around the towns of Reims and Épernay, the region is divided into key subzones like the Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, and Côte des Blancs, each favoring different grapes—Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay respectively. The region’s signature chalk and limestone soils provide excellent drainage and impart a distinctive mineral character to the wines. While méthode champenoise was refined here in the 17th century, Champagne’s global prestige grew through the 19th and 20th centuries, cementing its role as the benchmark for sparkling wine worldwide.
