Écueil

Écueil sits on east-facing slopes on the western Montagne de Reims, with vineyards that are heavily planted to Pinot Noir, an unusual share for a Petite Montagne village where Pinot Meunier normally dominates. The village has become one of the more interesting addresses for grower-Champagne in recent years, with two small estates building reputations for oak-vinified, single-vineyard Pinot and Chardonnay that point toward what serious Petite Montagne wine can taste like. The Pinot-led terroir sits on the same chalk substrate as the rest of the Montagne, but the slope and aspect produce a fruit profile distinct from the Meunier-dominated villages around it.