When Périne Baillette embraced the family reins—shortly after 2010—she did more than take over a modest Champagne house nestled between Rilly-la-Montagne, Trois-Puits, and Verzenay. She rekindled a legacy, rooted in chalky soils and centuries-old practices, and breathed new life into them. In doing so, she forged a bold vision: wines that speak of their place, crafted gently, with clarity and calm power.
Spanning just over 3 hectares, her vineyards whisper stories of geological time: Premier Cru plots in Rilly and Trois-Puits and a prized Grand Cru parcel in Verzenay. Each stems from deep, calcium-rich soils that imbue her wines with electric minerality and tensile structure. In 2010, almost immediately upon assuming leadership, Périne made a sweeping shift—removing all pesticides, heralding a vineyard reborn. Now, the rows are meticulously plowed by draft horse, and cover crops of oats, barley, mustard, and even wheat – blanket the soils in winter, encouraging natural balance and biodiversity. Every vine and footstep honours the living earth beneath. The ethos is unmistakable: the land is not shaped—it is stewarded.
In the cellar, Périne navigates between reverence and innovation. Historic methods—like hand remuage (riddling)—are paired with micro-oxidative ageing, blending new and seasoned oak to strike the perfect balance of freshness and depth. Indigenous yeasts ferment, and malolactic conversion occurs naturally. After spending 3 to 6 years serenely on lees, the wines emerge, lightly dosed, their chalk-driven energy intact. Each pour reflects her ethos: clean, elegant, expressive—but always unmistakably mineral and alive with terroir. It’s an intimate dialogue with the land, a memory of tradition rendered beautifully current through Périne’s vision.
From her Trois-Puits vineyards, Périne crafts:
- “Le Village” Premier Cru – A signature non-vintage blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir from 45-year-old vines in Trois-Puits. Bright, saline, and finely structured, it captures the chalk at the heart of the terroir with clarity and poise.
- “Le Mont Ferré” Premier Cru – This is a 100% Chardonnay single-vineyard Blanc de Blancs sourced from the “Le Mont Ferré” lieu-dit.
- Cœur de Craie “Trois-Puits”– Made exclusively from Pinot Noir, this cuvée comes from the “Les Chauds Champs” plot. With late harvesting to achieve natural ripeness and a very low dosage, it is taut, mineral, and elegantly expressive — a precise rendering of Premier Cru terroir.
- Cœur de Craie de Verzenay Grand Cru – A pure Pinot Noir from the diminutive 0.28-hectare “Le Pertois” parcel in Verzenay. Textural yet poised, it balances depth with striking chalk-driven tension, living up to its name as the true “heart of chalk.”
For distribution in USA.
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