Description
The wine
Les Montants is the Blanc de Blancs of the Adrien Renoir single-parcel range — 100% Chardonnay from a single lieu-dit in Grand Cru Verzy, planted from massale selection vines with roots going back decades into the chalk-rich soils of the Montagne de Reims. It is the parcel that started the single-vineyard project at the domaine — the one Adrien’s family has farmed longest and knows most intimately.
Grand Cru Verzy Chardonnay is an unusual combination — the village is known primarily for Pinot Noir, and most of the great Blanc de Blancs in Champagne comes from the Côte des Blancs to the south. Chardonnay on the chalk of the Montagne de Reims produces something distinctly different — more mineral tension, more structure, less of the immediate generosity of a Côte des Blancs Blanc de Blancs. Barrel fermented, zero dosage, no additions. The vintage speaks directly.
Vineyard & vintage details
Producer: Champagne Adrien Renoir
Cuvée: Les Montants Grand Cru
Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Village: Verzy · Grand Cru · Montagne de Reims
Lieu-dit: Les Montants · massale selection
Farming: Organic — certified 2020
Vinification: Barrel fermented · zero dosage
Vintage: 2019
Format: 750ml
Adrien Renoir farms four hectares in Grand Cru Verzy on the Montagne de Reims — three specific lieu-dits of massale selection vines planted between 1961 and 1971. He took over from his father Vincent in 2014 and converted the domaine to organic certification by 2020. Everything is fermented and aged in barrel — old oak barriques and large oak foudres for the reserve wines.
