Every Friday The no1 Champagne expert in the world will taste new & old Champagne s to give You a tip or two for the weekend. On a fresh summer day Richard Juhlin are tasting a new exiting collaboration – Grands Crus d’Exception Cuvée C17.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

A community adventure!

Once upon a time, there was a group of people who shared the same passion for outstanding terroirs. This is no fairytale, this is our story!

It is made up of 15 men and women, most of whom have learnt their trade from their elders. They all keep a rich and complex legacy alive, they all love their land and they all champion community, communication and togetherness!

They have a clear vision: use the power of a group to promote their land.

Together – and that’s the key word here – they have achieved what their colleagues have failed to do: come together as an association. Together, they are the Grands Crus d’Exception de Champagne. They communicate and move forwards together, host events and design a unique vintage called C17 in tribute to the 17 Grand Cru villages that go into it.

Grand Cru villages

When it says “Grand Cru de Champagne” on the bottle, it means the champagne is made solely from grapes from one or more listed Grand Cru villages.

17 out of 317 vine growing towns and villages are listed as Grand Cru. The rating system was founded in the early 20th century when the towns and villages were assessed on the standard of their produce.

Out of the 17 Grand Cru villages, 11 are in Reims Mountain and 6 are in Côte des Blancs.

The C17 magnum

We had the bright and bold idea of creating our own vintage in 2017. We wanted to blend the 17 Grands Crus of Champagne in a never-before-seen and extraordinary feat for our region. What makes it even more unique is that the idea came from 15 vine growers providing fruit from their own production.

We blend the grapes from each of the outstanding terroirs once picked to make a 4000kg marc in a traditional press.

The wine is packed full of passion, love for the land, communication and discussion among our association’s fifteen members and made exclusively in limited numbers of magnums as vintages. This bottle was a natural choice as it helps the wine age and the aromas to come into their own.

The Winemakers

1. Champagne Barnaut Philippe Secondé BOUZY
2. Champagne Chapuy Élodie Chapuy OGER
3. Champagne Ernest Rémy Tarek Berrada MAILLY-CHAMPAGNE
4. Champagne Franck Bonville Olivier Bonville & Ferdinand Ruelle-Dudel AVIZE – OIRY
5. Champagne Godmé Sabine Sabine et Jean-Marie Guillaume VERZENAY
6. Champagne François Secondé Jérôme Groslambert SILLERY – PUISIEULX
7. Champagne Guy de Chassey Ingrid Oudart LOUVOIS
8. Champagne Juillet-Lallement Jean Lallement VERZY
9. Champagne LamiableOphélie Lapie Lamiable TOURS-SUR-MARNE
10. Champagne Legras & Haas Jérôme Legras CHOUILLY
11. Champagne Paul Launois Julien Launoi LE MESNIL-SUR-OGER
12. Champagne Paul-Sadi Jérôme Portier BEAUMONT-SUR-VESLE – PUISIEULX
13. Champagne Pertois-Lebrun Antoine Bouret CRAMANT – OIRY
14. Champagne Richard-Fliniaux James Fliniaux AY-CHAMPAGNE
15. Champagne Secondé-Simon Jérôme Bôle AMBONNAY

Order; Champagne Magnum Opus by Richard Juhlin [international version]