Champagne Roger Coulon - 1er Cru 'Esprit De Vrigny' Brut Nature NV

Grape

33% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Meunier, 33% Pinot Noir.

Tasting notes

"Officially non-vintaged but based on 2009, the NV Premier Cru Brut Nature Esprit de Vrigny is a blend that represents the best soils for each grape variety: one-third Pinot Meunier from sandy soils, one-third Chardonnay from chalky soils and one-third Pinot Noir from clay soils. The wine displays a clear, super fresh and subtle/delicate bouquet with great purity, vibrancy and noblesse. Pristine and crisp on the palate, with a refined and salty finish, this is a very filigreed and complex cuvée that reflects the terroir of Vrigny, which is virtually the sea. This is mineral and firmly structured, but at the same time, it's also fine. It is terribly long and pure, with an iodine-inflected and intense yet fresh finish. This is a great, very persistent, rye and iodine-flavored wine—endless and long like a wine from the Jura. Persistently salty. Encore and encore. The is the most subtle complexity you can get in Champagne. Guys, I love it!" Stephen Reinhardt, The Wine Advocate

Expert Rating

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 94/100

More About The Winery

Since 1806, the Coulon family has cultivated vineyards in the Premier Cru village of Vrigny, Montagne de Reims. Today, Eric Coulon, the eighth generation, together with his wife Isabelle, continues this legacy while honoring his late father, Roger Coulon, whose name the domaine proudly carries.

The estate farms over 100 individual parcels across 11 hectares in six communes, including holdings in the Côte des Blancs. This mosaic of vineyards, most with prized east-facing exposures, allows for precise, terroir-driven Champagnes. Plantings are dominated by Pinot Meunier (40%), balanced with equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, all farmed with low yields to ensure concentration and depth.

Eric’s philosophy combines respect for tradition and careful innovation: indigenous yeasts, low-intervention vinification, parcel-by-parcel fermentation, and long lees ageing. The result is Champagnes of purity, finesse, and vibrant expression, with cuvées like L’Hommée, Heri-Hodie, and Les Originelles standing out as benchmarks of artisanal grower Champagne.