September 16, 2025
A trip to the Champagne region wouldn’t be complete without a visit to some grower champagne houses. Here are some of our recommendations. Vilmart & Cie Les Blanches Voies Blanc de Blancs 2012
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Vilmart & Cie is a grower champagne and family home that originated in 1890 by Désiré Vilmart and ever since, sons and sons-in-law have followed, always with this love of the profession, allowing this small domain to become what it is today in the heart of the Montagne de Reims a few kilometres south of Reims in the village Rilly la Montagne. Laurent Champs, 5th generation family member and Chef de Cave of Vilmart is one of Champagne’s unsung heroes, wine critic Tom Stevenson described Vilmart as “the greatest grower Champagne I know.” There are 11 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards in Rilly-la-Montagne which are planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The oldest vines are reserved for the Coeur de Cuvée and Blanc de Blancs champagnes. They have been farming biodynamically since 1989 and today are certified Viticulture Durable, Ampélos, and Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE) meaning farming is free of synthetic chemicals. The fermentations are entirely in oak, giving them a richness and complexity that really builds texture an unmistakably Vilmart character.
Another characteristic of Vilmart champagnes is the absence of malolactic fermentation. This preserves freshness, tautness and subtlety, as well as the pronounced identity of the aromas. After 10 months of vinification and resting on the lees in wooden barrels, the wines are bottled and left to age in the estate’s chalk cellars: three to four years for non-vintage champagnes, and five to eight years for vintages. The 2012 Blanches Voies comes from a single parcel of sixty year-old vines, from Laurent's most expressive parcel of Chardonnay.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Premier Cru | Rilly la Montagne in the heart of the Montagne de Reims
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay from vines of sixty years old (Les Blanches Voies parcel)
Disgorged: July 2020
Lees ageing: 7 years
Ageing process: Ten months into large oak casks
Winemaker: Laurent Champs
Malolactic Fermentation: 0%
Production: 2900 Bottles
Dosage: 8 g/l
Tasting Note: Vinified in new barrels, so oaky tones are prominent, but they are finely integrated into a ripe, ample fruitiness of the tropical kind. Spice and lemon line the green apple and pineapple fruit. The nose has plenty of complexity to gain over time. The palate is as racy and saline as ever, with lemon and lime fruit taking over. Focused, linear and juicy, ending with a stylish chalky aftertaste; this is drinking gorgeously today, but there is more to come. - Tasted by Essi Avellan MW
Another characteristic of Vilmart champagnes is the absence of malolactic fermentation. This preserves freshness, tautness and subtlety, as well as the pronounced identity of the aromas. After 10 months of vinification and resting on the lees in wooden barrels, the wines are bottled and left to age in the estate’s chalk cellars: three to four years for non-vintage champagnes, and five to eight years for vintages. The 2012 Blanches Voies comes from a single parcel of sixty year-old vines, from Laurent's most expressive parcel of Chardonnay.
Technical Information:
Vineyards: 100% Premier Cru | Rilly la Montagne in the heart of the Montagne de Reims
Grape Varieties: 100% Chardonnay from vines of sixty years old (Les Blanches Voies parcel)
Disgorged: July 2020
Lees ageing: 7 years
Ageing process: Ten months into large oak casks
Winemaker: Laurent Champs
Malolactic Fermentation: 0%
Production: 2900 Bottles
Dosage: 8 g/l
Tasting Note: Vinified in new barrels, so oaky tones are prominent, but they are finely integrated into a ripe, ample fruitiness of the tropical kind. Spice and lemon line the green apple and pineapple fruit. The nose has plenty of complexity to gain over time. The palate is as racy and saline as ever, with lemon and lime fruit taking over. Focused, linear and juicy, ending with a stylish chalky aftertaste; this is drinking gorgeously today, but there is more to come. - Tasted by Essi Avellan MW
