Petitjean Pienne

Petitjean-Pienne is a family estate in Cramant, one of the grand cru villages of the Côte des Blancs. The domaine looks back on six generations. Denis Petitjean has run it since 1981, and he tends the vines together with his wife Dominique and their daughter Marie. As a récoltant-manipulant, the estate makes its champagnes from its own grapes.

Vines and way of working

The planted area is around 3.5 hectares. According to the estate, 2.40 hectares are classified grand cru. The plots lie in Cramant, Chouilly and Avize. The soils are chalky and clay-limestone. Almost all of it is planted to Chardonnay. Only one cuvée in the range is made from all three grape varieties permitted in Champagne.

The estate follows the principles of viticulture raisonnée. Since 2019 it has done without herbicides. Vinification takes place in stainless steel tanks, and oak barrels are used for some of the cuvées. One base cuvée is still riddled by hand on a pupitre.

The cuvées

The range is built around blanc de blancs:

• Cœur de Chardonnay: a grand cru blanc de blancs blended from several vintages.
• Réserve: also grand cru and multi-vintage, with longer ageing on the lees in bottle.
• Prestige: comes from the two oldest plots, with vines of around 60 years, and spends time in an oak barrel before bottling.
• Millésime: a single-vintage blanc de blancs grand cru. The 2018 aged for five years on the lees.
• There is also a brut nature and a rosé.

In 2015 the house ranked among the ten best sparkling wines in the world at the Effervescents du Monde competition.

Visit and tasting

By its own account, the estate shows guests the working domaine, the vaulted cellars and a traditional wine press from 1938. The Vignerons Indépendants directory gives visiting hours of 8am to 12pm and 1.30pm to 6pm. It is still wise to book ahead. The estate is also listed as accommodation. On Tripadvisor it scores five out of five stars. Address: 4 Allée des Bouleaux, 51530 Cramant.