Champagne Rousseaux Batteux Blanc De Blancs - Extra Brut

When Adrien Rousseaux took over this 2.6-hectare estate in 2012 as its fourth generation, he inherited a chalk cellar carved from Verzenay bedrock in the late 19th century — the same cavern that sheltered schoolchildren during the bombardment of Reims in WWI. That continuity of place is not incidental: it frames a winemaking philosophy in which the site, not a house recipe, dictates every decision.

Verzenay Grand Cru sits on the northern slopes of the Montagne de Reims, where deep chalk beneath clay-marl overlays drives the piercing tension and saline mineral cut that define this Blanc de Blancs. The chalk's exceptional drainage concentrates flavour while sustaining acidity through the growing season.

Each plot is vinified separately in oak barrels (fûts de chêne), with approximately 10% new oak used deliberately for subtle oxygen exposure rather than flavour extraction. The wine undergoes extended lees aging of 36–48 months and is bottled without filtration and without cold stabilisation — a light sediment may form. Extra-brut dosage of 1–5.5 g/l leaves the chalk-driven structure fully exposed.

What separates this expression within the grower-Champagne category is the refusal of any fixed blending formula: oak use, plot selection, and bottling timing shift vintage by vintage, making each release a genuine terroir document rather than a calibrated house style.

The NV draws on Verzenay's most recent harvest cycles; the pronounced chalk minerality and integrated acidity suggest drinking well now through 5+ years with proper cellaring.