Notes from Skurnik Wines:

"Jérôme Dehours farms 42 different vineyards in three distinct villages on the southern side of the Marne River. Jérôme’s 14.5 hectares are split between the villages of Mareuil-la-Port, Oeuilly, Cerseuil and Troissy, in this quiet corner of the Marne. This area is just south of the Marne river at Châtillon-sur-Marne and Cuisles, where Cédric Moussé produces his exquisite wines. This area, the Vallée de Flagot, is named for the small river which has carved out a winding valley called Le Flagot, to meet the Marne River.

Geologically, the soils are quite different than the Grand Vallée around Aÿ, the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs. Here you find different strata of clays over Marne deposit, which is limestone, and not the belemnite chalk you’re likely to find in the northern Côte des Blancs, for example. Limestone is a sedimentary rock made up of two major types of minerals – calcite and aragonite, which when combined form calcium carbonate. Chalk is a form of limestone that includes a higher proportion of calcite. Both are formed from the skeletal deposits of marine organisms; chalk is made up microorganisms and limestone is generally from larger organisms.

The Vallée de Flagot offers many different exposures and is cooler than many other places in Champagne. Harvest for Jérôme is almost always 7-10 days later than the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Because of the climate here, Meunier is the most widely planted variety.  Normally, Meunier has a shorter maturation cycle than either Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, but here, Meunier is actually a bit longer."