Villers-Marmery

Villers-Marmery sits on east-facing chalk slopes on the eastern Montagne de Reims, with vineyards that are almost entirely Chardonnay, the most Chardonnay-pure of the Perle Blanche villages. The aspect and the chalk-and-silt soils combine to favour white grapes here in defiance of the Montagne's Pinot Noir reputation. The wines tend to be slightly fuller and rounder than those of the Côte des Blancs proper, with a mineral and floral profile rather than the high-acid austerity associated with the strip. Several of the village's growers have built small reputations on single-vineyard bottlings, and oak ageing is more common here than across most of the rest of the Montagne.