Françoise Bedel Champagne 'L'Âme de la Terre' 2002

In a sleepy hamlet at the western edge of the Vallée de la Marne – the heartland of Pinot Meunier – Françoise Bedel is making refined, long-aged Champagnes.

The Bedels sold their grapes to local merchants until Françoise took over her family estate in 1979. One of Champagne’s earliest adopters of biodynamics, she diligently farms 8ha of Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir by hand around Crouttes-sur-Marne.

Vinified in a combination of oak barrels and enamel tanks, Bedel’s wines undergo extended lees-ageing before being bottled with zero or extremely low dosage.

With Pinot Meunier finally starting to get the attention it deserves, and the spotlight firmly trained on quality-obsessed growers like Françoise, Bedel’s wines are attracting more admirers with every release.