What marks out Champagne from its southernmost sub-region?

Champagne Drappier’s Clarevallis cuvée is a flagship for the Côte des Bar, where Kimmeridgean soil and a warmer microclimate create a distinctive expression.

If your vision of Champagne derives from the cellars of Épernay or the sweeping slopes of Äy, you will find plenty of cuvées to match, Champagne is a well-known region, with a wealth of wines safely on the beaten track.

Yet Champagne, for all its fame, can still offer unexpected richness. The diversity of soils, climates and styles means that the region can offer huge variety, even if the wines are united in their production methods.

Champagne Drappier is one of the foremost heralds of Champenois diversity. Although its history stretches back to 1808 – the house is now in its eighth generation – it still flies a little under the radar.

In part, that is thanks to its location. Its vineyards sit in the Côte des Bar. Although the other four main sub-regions of Champagne stretch in a continuum of hills and valleys southwards of Reims, the Côte des Bar sits 150 kilometres south of Épernay.

Its more southerly location gives it a slightly warmer climate, adding richness and structure, but a higher altitude that brings freshness and compensates the effects of global warming. It also makes the sub-region perfect for Pinot Noir.

The Côte des Bar bears geological differences too. Its Kimmeridgean limestone soil is very similar to that found in Chablis (indeed, Chablis is a much closer neighbour to it than Épernay). As with the famed Chardonnays of Chablis, the austere soils lend minerality and aromatic intensity to Côte des Bar Champagnes.

This gives Champagne Drappier a point of difference and a role as standard-bearer for the region. You will easily find it embracing that role at international wine fairs – for instance, next week’s Wine Paris (Hall 7.3, Stand N261) or last year’s Vinexpo Singapore.

Yet location is not the only thing to distinguish Champagne Drappier. The house has pioneered unusual styles and production decisions, whether that is in its championing of organic viticulture or foregrounding of old grape varieties.

Yet it is never driven by a search for marketing buzz. Champagne Drappier’s journeys off the beaten track are a constant dialogue with its, and the region’s history. No wine expresses that better than Clarevallis.

A modern wine with historic roots

Clarevallis is a modern product. It was conceived by the eighth generation of the family: Charline, Hugo and Antoine Drappier.

Yet its name is the Latin translation of Clairvaux, St. Bernard’s Cistercian abbey that was founded in the region in 1115. The Urville vineyards that contribute to the wine are situated just 15 minutes from the abbey. Even as a modern cuvée, therefore, it is deeply rooted in the past.

The blend mixes four varieties introduced to the region in the 12th century: it is 75% Pinot Noir, 10% Meunier, 10% Chardonnay and 5% Blanc Vrai (Pinot Blanc).

The predominant Pinot Noir showcases the area’s terroir, yet the unusual addition of Blanc Vrai amplifies the wine’s structure, leading to a combination of ripe fruit character – golden fruit, red berries, quince jelly and dates – and minerality.

You also see a nod to the past in the wine’s viticulture. Clarevallis was Champagne Drappier’s first organic expression (it now produces six), attending to a very modern trend for sustainably produced wines. The methods, however – eschewing the use of synthetic chemicals for a more natural approach – are rooted in history. The soil is even ploughed by Antoine Drappier using his Ardenais draft horse Ida, preventing soil erosion and reducing carbon footprints.

Finally, as an extra-brut (3.5g/l of sugar), Clarevallis references past styles in its dosage. The liqueur is aged for 10 years in oak to further the wine’s rich profile.

Clarevallis thus stands out from the norm, as a wine both matched to the modern market and rooted in the Côte des Bar’s history. In doing so, it remains faithful to its terroir and to the freedom essential to the Drappier house.

Champagne Drappier Clarevallis NV

• Producer: Champagne Drappier,
• Region: Champagne,
• Country: France
• Grape varieties: 75% Pinot Noir, 10% Meunier, 10% Chardonnay, 5% Blanc Vrai
• ABV: 12%,
• Approx. retail price: £68

A delicious, organic non-vintage Champagne, this expression from Drappier always impresses for its combination of richness and freshness. At its core are mouth-filling ripe apple flavours from low-yielding vineyards allied to notes of baked bread, cream, roasted coffee and some dried yellow fruit too – presumably from older reserve wines. The finish is then very dry, fresh and chalky, with fine bubbles and a touch of fine phenolics too. (Patrick Schmitt MW, tasted at The Global Organic and Vegan Wine Masters 2025)

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