Le Mesnil-sur-Oger

Le Mesnil-sur-Oger occupies the southern end of the Côte des Blancs and is widely regarded as the most uncompromising expression of Chardonnay in Champagne. The Campanian chalk here lies under exceptionally shallow topsoil, often only 30 centimetres deep, which forces the vines to root directly into the bedrock and produces wines of unusual acidity and length. The village was promoted from Premier Cru to Grand Cru only in 1985, alongside Chouilly, Oiry, Oger and Verzy, the last expansion of the Échelle des Crus before the system was abolished in 2010. Mesnil's wines tend to be tightly wound and almost severe in their youth, sometimes for ten or fifteen years before they open. With 482 individual vineyard owners, Le Mesnil is also the most fragmented Grand Cru on the Côte, and the village has become the address of choice for some of Champagne's most age-worthy prestige cuvées.