Jérôme Blin is a family grower-producer in the Marne Valley sector of Champagne, farming organically and producing a focused range of wines that reflect the specific character of the estate’s Marne valley vineyard holdings. The Cuvée Octave Chardonnay Extra Brut is an unusual proposition within the estate’s range: a vintage Blanc de Blancs from Chardonnay grown in the Marne valley, a zone historically associated with Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir rather than the Chardonnay that dominates the Côte des Blancs, vinified and aged using a proportion of oak to develop textural complexity and aromatic depth beyond what stainless steel fermentation alone would provide. The Extra Brut designation and vintage labelling confirm the estate’s ambitions for this wine as a serious, site-specific expression rather than a commercial NV blend.

Vintage Chardonnay from the Marne valley in the Extra Brut style occupies a distinctive position in the grower Champagne landscape, offering a less austere and more texturally generous alternative to the pure chalk-mineral character of Côte des Blancs Blanc de Blancs while retaining the variety’s fundamental freshness and precision. The 2018 Champagne base vintage was very warm, producing wines of excellent ripeness and aromatic breadth, and the extended lees ageing that Blin applies to the Octave cuvée will have developed significant autolytic complexity since disgorgement. The proportion of oak in the vinification adds a further dimension of textural interest and aromatic depth that distinguishes this wine from the more reductive, steel-fermented styles dominant among grower Chardonnay producers.

Jérôme Blin is among the grower producers who have attracted attention from specialist Champagne importers and enthusiasts who seek wines of genuine character and thoughtful production practice from outside the most commercially prominent zones of the appellation. The Cuvée Octave Chardonnay is the estate’s flagship Chardonnay expression, and the 2018 vintage provides an excellent context in which to assess the proposition: warm, ripe and generously structured, with the oak and lees ageing adding the complexity that this particular style requires to distinguish itself within the crowded grower Champagne market.

Gold with fine, persistent bubbles and an aromatic nose of ripe orchard fruit, toasted brioche, vanilla, lemon curd, light oak spice and a warm, textured character from the 2018 vintage conditions. Medium to full-bodied with excellent natural acidity, a creamy mousse and a generous, biscuity finish of good complexity and persistence. Drink now through 2030.