Yet houses continue to ride the wave too, showcasing their most iconic plots and often supporting the story of the house: among them Taittinger’s La Folie de la Marquetterie from the Château de la Marquetterie vineyards in Pierry; Billecart-Salmon’s Le Clos Saint-Hilaire from the back garden of the house; Joseph Perrier’s home vineyard La Côte à Bras in Cumières; Lanson’s on-site vineyard Clos Lanson in Reims; and Pommery’s iconic Reims site Clos Pompadour.

And as our newly released 2022 Champagne Report shows, more are on their way. Philipponnat is embracing Pinot Noir via multiple single-vineyard expressions: Les Cintres, Le Léon, La Rémissonne. Equally, Bollinger is showing stronger focus on single-terroir expression. Just last month it released the first-ever Champagne from its legendary red wine plot La Côte aux Enfants. The house’s Pinot Noir expertise is also celebrated via the new PN Limited Edition series, which each year highlights the terroir of one particular village (so far PNVZ for Verzenay and PNTX for Tauxières).

READ MORE: THE CHAMPAGNE REPORT 2022

Yearly mono-cru pop-up cuvées from Henriot are also coming on stream, the first release being the beautifully transparent 2016 L’Inattendue from Avize. Meanwhile, the renaissance of Leclerc Briant since new ownership in 2012 has seen a flashy and rapid emergence of a ‘bio-chic’ house. Biodynamic cultivation and site-specific Champagne were part of Pascal Leclerc’s heritage, and from the original backyard vineyard La Croisette, the range has grown to include Les Basses Prières, Château d’Avize and Le Clos de Trois Clochers single-site cuvées.

Does the preponderance of site-specific Champagnes threaten the cult of blending? Not in the least, to my mind. It takes a very special plot in Champagne to compete quality-wise with the polished perfection and carefully crafted complexity of a blend. Krug never claim Clos du Mesnil or Clos d’Ambonnay are its best Champagnes, they are just individual stars in the Krug firmament.

One must also bear in mind that even a single-vineyard Champagne is likely to be a blend. Think of the 5.5ha Clos des Goisses, with 14 individual plots of both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay planted at different times with different clones. Then there are all the winemaking options, from different press fractions to options around the fermentation vessel, malolactic fermentation etc. A winemaker can just as easily show their blending expertise with single-vineyard Champagnes.

But for wine lovers, site-specific Champagnes are wonderful tools for understanding the complex region and its great puzzle of vineyards. And getting to know the crus and individual sites provides the building blocks for truly appreciating a blend.

Below is a list of ten of the best site-specific Champagnes from the tasting. To see the full results, head to The Champagne Report 2022.