The Charpentier family can trace its Champenois roots back to 1855 when an ancestor opened an inn on the banks of the river Marne, providing a place for travellers and horses to feed and rest. Now Jean Marc Charpentier - the 8th generation - is at the helm of this wonderful estate. Jean Marc’s arrival as the winemaker-owner witnessed a new lease of life for this estate, for he is not only a humanist, but also a daring agronomist, always striving to find the best possible harmony between Man and Nature. With this in mind, and under his guidance, they have converted the entire estate to organic and biodynamic viticulture, reaching full organic certification in 2021 and Demeter certification in 2023.

They are located in the village of Charly-sur-Marne which lies at the extreme western border of the Marne Valley. Their 24 hectares of vines have been divided into 72 individual plots which are spread between Charly-sur-Marne and its neighbouring villages. The Marne is noted for the predominance of Pinot Meunier, so the fact that Chardonnay represents 45% of the Charpentier plantings is unusual. Despite its delicacy in the face of spring frosts, Chardonnay was the favoured grape variety of Jean Marc’s grandfather when replanting the vineyards. The rest of the plantings are given over to Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The terroir here is predominantly formed of limestone, with pockets of sand, which are a throwback to the coastline that once ran through Champagne.

Across their range of cuvées, the tempo is decidedly slow in the cellar; vinifications are long, cool and carried out in stainless steel, whilst aging on the lees is carried out in barriques (from Meursault and Champagne), and can last for up to five years. The dosage - made from grape must - added is always low, especially with Terre d’Émotions.

The beating heart of Jean-Marc’s range is «Terre d’Émotion», which has been created to showcase the results of meticulous teamwork and real intuition as to their land and provenance. All of these wines will be certified organic and biodynamic in the coming years, but remain outside of the certifications due to the long elevage of their base wines.

Meanwhile, the «Tradition» range represents the quintessential expression of the Marne Valley terroir and history, and as such, has a higher proportion of Pinot Meunier. This range sees Jean Marc working alongside local grape growers, and is helping to move them towards organic viticulture; he formed CUMA (Cooperative d’Utilisation de Material Agricole) which allows for farmers to share equipment and as such, greatly lowers the barriers and costs associated with using often expensive machinery and tools.