Côte de Sézanne and Montgueux: Champagne's Other Chardonnay Hills
When people think of Chardonnay in Champagne, they think of the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, the famous chalk slope south of Épernay. Rightly so. But the story of Champagne Chardonnay does not stop there.
Keep driving south and you reach two places that most champagne lovers have never heard of, and that we have come to love: the Côte de Sézanne, and a single, sun-soaked chalk hill near Troyes called Montgueux. Both make Chardonnay with its own accent. Both are home to growers we work with. And both offer something precious in Champagne: great character at honest prices.
Where Are They?
Champagne is not one block of vineyards. It is a patchwork of sub-regions spread across more than 150 kilometres, from the Montagne de Reims in the north to the Côte des Bar in the far south. Our guide to the champagne regions shows the full picture.
The Côte de Sézanne, also called the Coteaux du Sézannais, continues south-west of the Côte des Blancs, around the old market town of Sézanne.
Montgueux sits much further south, a lone hill about 10 kilometres west of Troyes, in the Aube. Geographically it belongs to the south. Geologically, it is closer to the Côte des Blancs.
The Côte de Sézanne: The Same Chalk, a Warmer Sun
The Sézanne slopes are the natural extension of the Côte des Blancs. The chalk seam continues underground, but the topsoil carries more clay and sand, and many slopes face south-east into the morning sun. The result is Chardonnay that ripens a little more easily.
In the glass that means a slightly rounder, riper style: yellow fruit, softer acidity, generous texture, with the chalk still giving a clean finish. It is the sub-region we most often recommend to people who already love Blanc de Blancs and want to explore sideways rather than up in price.
Our grower: Marlène Delong
Marlène Delong is our Sézannais family. The estate was founded in 1966 by Ginette and Gérard Delong. Marlène took over in 2000 and her husband Damien joined in 2008. Together they farm 5.3 hectares in the villages of Allemant, Broyes and Sézanne, planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
They earned their organic certification in 2023, after years of careful transition. In the cellar they use indigenous yeasts, minimal sulphites and plenty of patience. Two bottles to look out for: Zero, a champagne with no added sugar that lets the fruit and the chalk speak for themselves, and Sans Filtre, a single-plot Chardonnay bottled unfiltered and without added sulphites. They also farm 4.6 hectares in St-Lumier, in the little-known Côte du Vitryat further east, planted entirely with Chardonnay.
Montgueux: The Montrachet of Champagne
Montgueux is a cru of just over 200 hectares on a single hill rising out of the plain near Troyes. Growers sometimes call it the Montrachet of Champagne, after the most famous white wine vineyard in Burgundy. That sounds like flattery until you taste the wines.
Two things make Montgueux special. The soil is chalk shot through with veins of flint (silex), which gives the wines a smoky, flinty edge. And the hill faces south-south-east, so the vines soak up sun all day. The Chardonnay that comes from here has a remarkable combination: ripe, almost tropical fruit on the nose, with a mineral, salty tension on the finish.
Our grower: Hélène Beaugrand
Hélène Beaugrand grew up in the Aube, studied oenology in Burgundy and worked harvests in South Africa, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand and the United States before returning to France. She joined the family estate in 2008, and in 2018 she selected the best three hectares of her family's vineyards in Montgueux to launch her own label as a Récoltant Manipulant. The vast majority of her vines are Chardonnay.
Her Le Grand Carré is a single-parcel Chardonnay with no added sugar: white peach, lemon zest and chalk on the nose, green apple and flint on the palate, and a saline finish that lingers. It is one of the most quietly impressive bottles in our range, and often the surprise favourite at comparative tastings.
Sézanne, Montgueux and the Côte des Blancs, Side by Side
Côte des Blancs | Côte de Sézanne | Montgueux | |
Soil | Pure chalk | Chalk with clay and sand on top | Chalk with flint |
Style | Taut, citrus, saline | Rounder, riper, yellow fruit | Ripe and exotic, flinty, mineral |
Price | Often high | Very fair | Very fair |
Best for | Purists and oysters | Generous aperitifs, poultry | Fish, seafood, a surprise tasting |
Why does the same grape taste so different a few dozen kilometres apart? That is terroir: soil, slope, sun and the hand of the grower. Our deep dive into champagne terroir explains it.
Why These Hills Matter to Us
The big champagne houses buy grapes from everywhere and blend them into a consistent house style. That is a valid craft. But it erases places like Sézanne and Montgueux. Small growers do the opposite: they bottle their hill, their soil, their year.
That is the adventure we love. Bottles that taste of somewhere, made by people you can visit, at prices that make champagne an everyday pleasure rather than a once-a-year event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Côte de Sézanne?
South-west of the Côte des Blancs, around the town of Sézanne in the Marne. It continues the same chalk seam, with a little more clay and sand on top.
Why is Montgueux called the Montrachet of Champagne?
Because of the quality of its Chardonnay. Its chalk and flint soils and south-facing slopes give ripe, powerful and mineral wines, compared by many to great white Burgundy.
Is Côte de Sézanne champagne good value?
Very. Because the area is less famous than the Côte des Blancs, grower champagnes from Sézanne are often noticeably more affordable for the quality.
What grapes grow in Montgueux?
Mostly Chardonnay. Hélène Beaugrand, our grower there, has mostly Chardonnay in her vineyards.
