Oudiette x Filles
Côte des Blancs | Champagne
Oudiette x Filles is the realization of a dream to make wine from family vineyards in the Coteaux du Morin. Third-generation vigneronne Margot Laurent crafts expressive, singular champagnes that transmit the legacy of their trailblazing grandmother, Oudiette.
Introducing the Estate
It was All a Dream
Margot Laurent took over her family’s vineyards in 2015, with a dream to bottle a singular champagne from heirloom vines that had been tended by her grandmother. Primarily planted to chardonnay with pinot noir and pinot meunier, these vineyards are the family treasure and a rare occurrence in champagne: the vines were passed from one generation of women to another, forming a strong female legacy in the patriarchal land of Champagne.
Since the first release in 2021, total production at Oudiette x Filles has increased to a tiny five thousand bottles per vintage, as Margot’s commitment is to nothing but the highest quality. Each bottling is from a single harvest and a pure expression of the best of her family terroir.
The champagnes are sleek and layered, perfectly ripe, full-bodied, and framed by saline minerality, with a structured profile and spiced undertones.
History & Origins
A Grandmother’s Courage
“In the middle of the 20th century, our grandmother Arlette, then a young widow, turned out to be a strong and ambitious woman who managed the family vineyards alone for twenty-five years. She sold her grapes to Vranken Pommery, as did our mother after her. When we reflect on the achievements of our grandmother, we’re still amazed. Beyond the physical difficulty of the task, the real obstacle had to be overcoming the mentality of the time. One can hardly imagine the difficulties she had to go through in this environment where the front of the stage was largely occupied by men. Today, we celebrate our grandmother’s story with great pride. To honor her memory, we decided to produce our own wine in 2017.”
– Margot Laurent
The Vision Behind Oudiette x Filles
A Legacy of vines
From the very beginning, Margot has been focused on the absolute expression of her terroir in the oft-forgotten Coteaux du Morin (sometimes referred to as the Val du Petit Morin).
Ravaged by phylloxera in the early twentieth century and later unfairly combined with other areas of Champagne, the Coteaux du Morin is only now gaining in prominence as a rediscovered terroir through the work of Margot and her neighbors such as Olivier Collin.
Margot’s first cuvée, Uni Terre, was created to express the beauty of Beaunay’s terroir. Oudiette x Filles has since released subsequent Uni Terre editions along with additional wines, including Les Sablonnières, a single-parcel pinot noir, and Composition, a blend of pinot noir and chardonnay.
The Vineyard and Land
From Beaunay With Love
Beaunay lies in the northern part of the Coteaux du Morin, sometimes called the Val du Petit Morin, just south of a small forest that separates it from the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay. The region takes its name from the Petit Morin River, which flows westward and eventually empties into the Marne.
The subsoil in the northern part of the region contains a higher proportion of chalk, which explains the greater presence of chardonnay. Moving south, the soils transition to richer clay, favoring increased plantings of pinot meunier. In Beaunay, soils are predominantly clay and silt over a chalky subsoil, interspersed with veins of sand and fragments of black silex that make structured, textural chardonnay and regal pinot noir.
Margot works her vineyards intuitively by hand, without using insecticides or herbicides. Plowing, controlled natural grassing, and plant cover are all adapted to meet the demands of each vintage, and she tailors her farming to each individual parcel, using different cover crops to encourage soil health and biodiversity. The underlying philosophy is one of absolute respect for each plot’s personality and the resulting cuvée.
Her nine parcels are spread across the following lieux-dits:
- Les Hautes Sources Souris – A 0.18 ha, south-facing parcel at the top of the hill, planted to 25-year-old chardonnay on clay over clay, chalk, and marl.
- Les Sablonnières – Two parcels on the mid-slope with south to southeast exposure: 0.23 ha of 30-year-old pinot noir and 0.07 ha of 28-year-old chardonnay, planted on clay over sand.
- Les Gourdaines – Two parcels: one 0.40 ha parcel of 52-year-old pinot meunier, and a second parcel of 8-year-old chardonnay at the top of the slope with west to southwest exposure, both on clay over sand.
- Le Poirier – A 0.17 ha, southwest-facing mid-slope parcel of 23-year-old chardonnay, planted primarily on clay with clay and sand subsoils.
- Les Bas Vigny – A 0.18 ha, southwest-facing lower-slope parcel of 39-year-old chardonnay, with silt topsoil over pure chalk.
- Les Gras d’Huiles – A 0.22 ha, southeast-facing lower-slope parcel of 20-year-old chardonnay, planted on clay and silt over pure chalk.
Process & Philosophy
Complexity through Simplicity
Margot’s philosophy is simple: each of her cuvées must reflect the vintage and terroir of her family land. She believes there is no absolute formula; each wine is allowed to reach its full potential under her watchful care.
She attentively waits for the optimum degree of ripeness before harvest; she does not use chaptalization, always pursuing the least amount of intervention possible. After a manual harvest, grapes are gently pressed in a Coquard press. Using only the coeur de cuvée from the best parcels, only the best of fruit is bottled.
Fermentation and aging of the vins clairs take place almost entirely in oak, without fining, filtration, or cold stabilization. Malolactic fermentation occurs spontaneously. The wines are naturally stabilized and aged in oak barrels for ten months or more, followed by up to three or more years on the lees. Dosage is generally kept under 3 grams per liter and is always carefully adjusted for balance in each Oudiette x Filles extra brut bottling.
Products
Wine
Oudiette x Filles Composition Extra Brut Champagne
Oudiette x Filles Uni Terre III Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Champagne
