Jérôme Blin

From conventional farming to biodynamics

When Jérôme took over the family vineyard in 2007, the business was conventional - like almost all in Champagne. But the young winemaker sensed that something was missing. The soils were tired, the vines vulnerable, the wines interchangeable. In 2012, he began converting to organic cultivation, and in 2018 the Biodynamic certification. The change was radical: away with the herbicides, away with the synthetic fertilisers, away with the tractors. Instead came Naya and Quartz - two Comtois cold-blooded horses that have been ploughing the vineyards ever since. And a sheep called Chouquette, which grazes between the rows of vines.

Vincelles and the Vallée de la Marne

Vincelles is located on the south bank of the Marne, around 20 kilometres west of Épernay. It is dominated by the Pinot Meunier - a grape variety that has long been considered the workhorse of Champagne, good enough for blending but rarely for single vineyards. Jérôme sees things differently. His 6 hectares are spread over numerous Lieu-dits with different soil types: Clay, limestone, sand, flint. Each parcel is vinified separately, each wine tells its own story. The Cuvée Meunier sur Sable for example, comes from sandy soils and displays an almost Burgundian elegance. In the neighbourhood, a few kilometres to the east in Œuilly, works Tarlant The company follows a similar philosophy: also zero dosage, also Lieu-dit focussed, also convinced that Champagne can do more than just branded sparkling wine.

The philosophy of zero

Zero Dosage is not a marketing decision for Jérôme Blin, but a logical consequence. If the grapes are healthy, if fermentation takes place spontaneously with wild yeasts, if the wine has time to develop on the lees - then it doesn't need sugar to be round. The La Pouillote with its 3 grams of dosage is already its most „opulent“ champagne. Most of the others manage completely without it. The results are champagnes of almost frightening precision: taut, mineral, with an acidity that cuts like a scalpel - and a fruit that is still there, just not concealed by residual sugar.

Single vineyard instead of assemblage

While the big houses blend champagnes from hundreds of parcels, Jérôme takes the opposite approach. Each of his champagnes comes from a single vineyard, often from old vines, always fermented spontaneously. The Les Ports is a Complantation - a historical Gemischter Satz from Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, grown together and harvested together. The Les Caillasses comes from stony soils that La Haute Cirrière from the highest parcels. When you drink Champagne Jérôme Blin, you don't drink a brand - you drink a place.