Dhondt-Grellet is a small grower-producer from Festigny in the Vallée de la Marne, farming vines across several Premier Cru villages with a commitment to natural farming practices and a distinctly artisan approach to vinification. The estate’s Blanc de Blancs Les Terres Fines is an unusual proposition from this sub-zone of Champagne, where Pinot Meunier rather than Chardonnay typically dominates, and it reflects the producers’ ambition to demonstrate the quality potential of Chardonnay from Premier Cru terroir beyond the Côte des Blancs. The Extra Brut dosage and minimal-intervention approach in the cellar align Dhondt-Grellet with the broader grower Champagne movement that prizes site transparency and restraint.

Les Terres Fines, the vineyard that gives this cuvée its name, is farmed on clay and limestone soils in the Premier Cru villages of the Vallée de la Marne, where the slightly warmer and more continental microclimate compared to the Côte des Blancs produces Chardonnay of greater weight and textural generosity, though with less of the pure chalk-mineral austerity of Le Mesnil or Avize. The base 2021 vintage was characterised by fresh, high-acid wines across Champagne, and the Blanc de Blancs from this year will have a lively, tense quality that contrasts with the rounder, more generous profile of recent warm vintages. The magnum format provides the ideal conditions for developing this wine’s considerable potential over five to ten years from disgorgement.

Dhondt-Grellet has built a following among specialist importers and Champagne enthusiasts who follow the grower scene with attention, though the estate remains outside the mainstream critical radar of the five approved publications. The estate’s wines are distributed through a small network of specialist retailers in France, the United Kingdom and internationally, and are sought by collectors who value the individual identity of small-producer Champagne over the consistency of the major houses. A magnum of Les Terres Fines with a 2021 base offers a compelling proposition for patient collectors.

Pale gold with fine, lively bubbles and an aromatic nose of green apple, lemon blossom, white pear, chalk and a fresh mineral brightness from the Premier Cru terroir. Light to medium-bodied on the palate with vibrant natural acidity, a creamy mousse and a long, dry, mineral finish. Best from 2026 through 2033.