Jérôme Blin doesn’t make anything in large quantities, and no two cuvees in his portfolio are even slightly similar. Everything is based on single parcels and treated differently based on their grape composition and soil type, so each wine truly has its own distinct personality. Yet, his whole portfolio is bound together by the purity and expressiveness of their vineyards of origin, with fruit and earth both represented impeccably.

This “Meunier Sur Sable” Brut Nature is 100% Meunier with a crisp and lively personality full of apricot, white peach, Fuji apple, fresh ginger, orange oil, wet stones, and a sort of rustic undertone of earthy characteristics. Plenty of juicy, generous fruit alongside a searing, sizzling acidity and luscious texture. “Outstanding champagne,” wrote one commenter on CellarTracker (where people are notoriously tough critics, but for this wine they concluded it deserved 92.5 points overall – generous for the platform!).

The Blin family history in Champagne dates back to 1671 in Vincelles, a village in the Marne Valley. The modern-day Blin Champagne history goes back to Jérôme’s grandfather, who created the H. Blin Cooperative in 1947 by organizing 28 other growers in the region. The family’s production on their six-hectare estate – mostly planted to Meunier (75%) and then 15% each of Pinot and Chardonnay – was earmarked for the co-op, to be blended, fermented, and sold as part of a far larger production. These exceptional vines average about 45 years of age, however, and once Jérôme took over from his father in 2010, they were too precious to hand over.  

The bespectacled Jérôme Blin is a charming and thoughtful man, who revels in finding the balance of nature and farming, and notion of legacy when it is all said and done. His awesome glasses are neat enough on their own, but it’s his experimental winemaking techniques that really get us excited. He uses amphorae and what he calls “wine globes” to vinify his wines, in pursuit of more sustainable practices and vessels. He’s also incredibly committed to the land, farming organically and biodynamically – mostly on his own, plus a couple horses and some sheep to help him with the heavy lifting. 

In terms of real-deal grower Champagne, it doesn’t get more sincere than this. Take home a few of these limited and rare wines, while we still have them!