Description
The wine
La Crayère takes its name from the chalk — craie in French — that underlies the Premier Cru vineyards of Bisseuil. It is the most specific and most demanding wine Hélène makes: 100% Chardonnay from just two parcels, both south-facing on clay-limestone soils in Bisseuil, the village that accounts for nearly two of her three hectares of vines.
Les Côtes was planted in 1963 — the older of the two parcels, now over 60 years old, producing fruit of concentration and depth from roots that have had decades to find the chalk beneath the surface. Les Rocheforts is the companion parcel — same village, same south-facing aspect, the same fundamental soil structure. Together they produce Chardonnay that is simultaneously rich and precise — the warmth of the clay giving way to the mineral tension of the limestone below.
The approach in the cellar is the same as across every Hélène Charbaut wine: vinification in 2.28hl old oak barrels, 10 months ageing on lees, no filtration. Brut nature — approximately 2g/l residual sugar, none of it added. The wine expresses exactly what these two Bisseuil parcels produced in 2022 without embellishment.
1,440 bottles produced. Among the rarest wines in the Charbaut range and the one that most clearly demonstrates the potential of old-vine Chardonnay on Premier Cru chalk in Bisseuil.
Vineyard & vintage details
Producer: Champagne Hélène Charbaut
Cuvée: La Crayère Blanc de Blancs
Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Village: Bisseuil · Premier Cru
Parcels: Les Côtes (planted 1963) · Les Rocheforts
Aspect: South-facing
Soil: Clay-limestone
Juice: Cuvée only — first pressing
Vinification: Old oak barrels 2.28hl · 10 months on lees
Dosage: Brut nature · approximately 2g/l residual sugar
Unfiltered
Production: 1,440 bottles
Vintage: 2022
Format: 750ml
Hélène Charbaut
Hélène Charbaut is the fourth generation of a family farming in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ since 1937. Five cuvées — each a single grape variety, a single expression of Premier Cru terroir from a historic cave the family has worked for nearly a century.
All Hélène Charbaut wines are currently sold out. The next allocation is expected spring 2027 — join the pre-arrival list for first access when it arrives.
