JEAUNAUX ROBIN

The Champagne winery Jeaunaux-Robin is located in the Vallée du Petit Morin with the hundred-strong village of Talus Saint Prix. The community has just over 39 hectares. It's more or less in the middle of nowhere, southwest of the Côte des Blancs and north of the Côte de Sézanne. One would expect a similar amount of chalk there as in the neighboring regions, but in fact the soil appears more like a mix of chalk and marl and thus like a mixture of Côte des Blancs and Vallée de la Marne. This peculiarity of the soils has led the winegrowers in Talus Saint Prix to plant more than 70% of their soils with Pinot Meunier
Cyril Jeaunaux, whose grandparents started growing grapes in the 1950s, joined the family business in 1999 with his wife Clemence. In the course of the following years, he fundamentally questioned the conventional work in the vineyard and in the cellar and systematically changed it.
Cyril quickly recognized the value of the intensive work in the vineyard and in 2005 removed all chemical agents from the winery. Not least because of the intensive exchange within the "Terres et Vins de Champagne" winegrowers' group, which he joined in 2009, he started to deal with biodynamic methods. He has been using appropriate preparations since 2010 and in 2015 he began the official conversion to organic viticulture.
The vineyards in the valley are endangered by late frost due to cool air from the surrounding hills. On the other hand, the Pinot Meunier, which dominates here, is best armed. A small part of the grapes comes from the Côte des Bar, where Cyril still cultivates a hectare of vineyards. The wines are aged in used barriques. Biological acid degradation is avoided whenever possible. This is where very individual and honest champagnes are created that combine animating acidity, minerality and drinking flow.
Thanks to the Meunier, Cyril's champagnes are fruity, but always reflect the specifics of the place and its soil. This is also noticeable with the varietal Chardonnay.
Facts: 1 Rue de Bannay, 51270 Talus-Saint-Prix, 5.7 ha., 40,000 bottles/year