Champagne Chartogne-Taillet is the only remaining récoltant-manipulant producer in the village of Merfy, where Alexandre Chartogne has become one of Champagne’s leading advocates for terroir-driven viticulture. After working under Anselme Selosse, Alexandre returned to the family estate in 2006 and quickly shifted the domaine toward single-parcel Champagnes with the inaugural release of Les Barres — an ungrafted Meunier vineyard planted in 1952 on deep sand over chalk. Since taking full control of the estate in 2007, he has pursued an intensely site-specific philosophy, farming and vinifying each parcel individually to highlight the unique identity of Merfy’s diverse soils, ranging from chalk and sandstone to clay, Thanetian sands, and limestone. Today, the domaine farms thirteen parcels, including Les Barres, Beaux Sens, Les Couarres, Couarres Château, Heurtebise, Orizeaux, Les Alliées, Chemin de Reims, and small Chardonnay parcels in Avize and Oger in the Côte des Blancs. In the cellar, Alexandre continues to experiment with a wide range of élevage vessels — including barrel, amphora, concrete egg, stainless steel, underground concrete tanks, and wine globe — always in pursuit of expressing place rather than house style. The domaine continues to evolve around Alexandre’s central belief that great Champagne comes from understanding place over time. Each parcel is farmed and vinified separately in order to preserve its singular expression.

Merfy is a 15 minute drive north of Reims, and its vineyards lie on the southern slopes of the Massif de Saint-Thierry in the Petite Montagne de Reims. These slopes were planted shortly after the arrival of the Romans and monks of the neighboring Abbey of Saint-Thierry expanded the vineyards in the 7th century.

The vineyards of Merfy lie on deep soils composed of various sands and clays over chalk, it’s been Alexandre’s mission to rediscover the identity of his family’s parcels, understand the terroir where they exist and pass this on to his son, the future generation.

Utmost focus on the health of the individual soils of each plot. Chickens and sheep roam freely in the vines to control pests, and manage weed control. Grass is partially allowed to grow, ploughing is done by horse (50% of the surface) or light tractor to avoid soil compaction, no herbicides or pesticides, bouillie bordelaise against oidium/mildew but no certification although organic farming has been practiced since 2002.

For Alexandre Chartogne, vinification is inseparable from terroir expression. Each parcel is fermented and aged separately, with élevage tailored to the individual site and vintage rather than following a fixed formula. Fermentations occur naturally with native yeasts selected from his own vineyards, an approach Alexandre pioneered early on in Champagne and one that remains uncommon in a region historically focused on producing neutral, highly controlled base wines.. Wines may be raised in a range of vessels including barrel, large-format oak cask, stainless steel, concrete egg, wine globe and underground concrete tanks depending on the needs of the wine. Natural malolactic fermentation is embraced, and base wines are typically aged for around nine months prior to assemblage.

A central focus of Alexandre’s work is oxygen management and the long-term evolution of Champagne. Through ongoing experimentation with élevage under flor, barrel aging, bottle shape, closure type, and lees aging under both cork and crown cap, he seeks a balance between reduction and oxidation that preserves freshness while allowing the wines to age with greater harmony and stability. Rather than pursuing a rigid house style, his approach remains rooted in transparency, allowing each parcel to evolve according to its own identity over time.