Champagne Roger Coulon, Vrigny

These wines are all about the energy, the resonance, the sheer life force of life. Like copper wires pulsing with electricity. Like a cello solo in the Carnegie Hall. You feel it more than you drink it.
        —Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com, June 2023

These are vinous, intensely flavored Champagnes of considerable character, lent a particular texture and grain by their emphasis on Meunier growing on sand, and I warmly encourage readers to try them.
        —William Kelley, The Wine Advocate, December 2023

Champagne Roger Coulon dates back to 1806 and is run by the young brother and sister team of Edgar and Louise Coulon, the family’s 9th generation. What defines this domaine is its commitment to organic viticulture and agroforestry; an ethos of long élevages in wood followed by extended aging sur latte; bottling with low pressure and low, if any, dosage; and a lengthy post-disgorgement aging in bottle of one year before going to market (a period that is moving to two years). All of this is in service of having a more vinous wine.

The domaine is on the northwestern slopes of the Montagne de Reims in the quiet premier cru village of Vrigny. Its vines are in or around their village, save for a Grand Cru parcel of Chardonnay in Chouilly. The parcels numbered 115 in 2026 and the surface was nearly 11 hectares, or 27 acres. The average age of vines across the board exceeds 40 years.

Roughly 50% of the family’s plantings are in Meunier, 25% in Pinot Noir, and 25% in Chardonnay with a smattering of Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Petit Meslier. Ferments are spontaneous and now all in 205, 228 and 600L barrels (10-15% annual renewal). Élevages go over winter for 10-11 months and malolactic fermentation typically happens naturally before bottling en tirage and aging sur latte. There is no fining or filtration; SO2 additions are minimum; and bottling is done with 4.5 to 4.8 bars of pressure rather than the standard 6 bars.

Edgar joined his parents on the domaine in 2016 after internships in Burgundy, England, Australia and New Zealand following his enology studies. He was instrumental in pushing his parents to go for organic certification, which began in 2019 and was awarded in 2022 (his father had always worked vines more or less organically, but never wanted to be confined by the regulations). In addition, Edgar introduced, or reintroduced as he would like to say, the principles of agroforestry. The Coulon forefathers had traditionally planted fruit trees along the edges of their vineyard parcels, and Edgar went back to this practice not simply for the fruit, but for the biodiversity that the trees brought both above and underground as well as the soil stabilization (which the root systems of fruit trees can contribute to without interfering with the roots of vines, whereas a larger system like that of an oak tree would). As well as fruit trees, they are planting hedges and utilizing cover crops. In the winter months, a flock of sheep graze in the Coulon vineyards.

Edgar’s younger sister Louise joined in 2019 after studying economics and after obtaining a master’s degree in the wine and spirits business. In addition, she did a wine making internship with Domaine Ott in Provence. She runs the front of the house while Edgar runs the back, but it’s a small family domaine and they work closely together on all aspects of the business, above all on the wine making.

Their parents, Isabella and Eric, were founding members of Trait-d-Union, Champagne’s most elite group of growers. They also designed the label with its mosaic of black and gold vineyard parcels belonging to the Coulon family in Vrigny, with gold highlighting the parcels contributing to the cuvée in hand.

As to Roger Coulon, he was Edgar and Louise’s grandfather. He passed away at a young age and their father kept his name for the domaine.