SALIMA & ALAIN CORDEUIL

Noé-les-Mallets, Champagne

Salima and Alain Cordeuil are a young winemaking couple are based in Noé-les-Mallets, just to the east of Landreville in the Aube subregion in Champagne’s extreme south. They farm just over 4 hectares of organic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines and produce around 10,00 bottles annually. They began the organic conversion process after taking over their vines in 2011, and the domaine has been certified since 2015. 

To complement their dedication to organic farming, the Cordeuil’s focus on minimal intervention, no dosage, and long sur-latte aging to extract a tense, precise, and delicate harmony in their wines. Like their neighbor Cédric Bouchard, the wines do not slap one over the head with their brilliance but edge the drinker towards their profundity over the course of a bottle drunk slowly throughout a meal. Their entry-level cuvée, Origines, is aged entirely in stainless steel tanks, while their single varietal and parcellaire cuvées are aged in a combination of tank and large wooden foudres. All of their wines are then aged in bottle for 3-5 years before disgorgement. None of their wines have any added dosage.

These are serious, vinous Champagnes, which manage to simultaneously convey a joyful, vibrant expression of their terroir while remaining technically strong and highly ageworthy.