Grauves

Grauves sits eight kilometres south of Épernay, behind the main slope of the Côte des Blancs, in the small valley of the Le Darcy stream. The village's geography is genuinely unusual for the strip: vineyards on the right bank face southwest, and those on the left bank face northeast, two opposing exposures across a single stream. The name derives from the Latin word for gravel, and the soils are notably gravel-rich rather than the pure chalk of the slopes facing east. Plantings are predominantly Chardonnay. There is a cooperative footprint and a handful of small grower estates, and Pol Roger's 1928 from Grauves was reportedly the first Champagne ever to be awarded a perfect 100-point score.