Why it matters
The producer
Champagne Michel Turgy farms entirely Grand Cru vineyard in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, with vines averaging approximately 30 years old. The named wines are 100% Chardonnay Blanc de Blancs Champagne, so one grape and one classified area remain visible across the range. Cellar time then separates the bottles: reserve wine supports the Brut blend, while the vintage cuvée stays on its lees before release.
The house's work begins with fruit from pure chalk slopes and continues through hand harvest, gentle pressing and fermentation with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. The method keeps the wines connected to their vineyard source while giving each release a different place in the range.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is a Grand Cru classified area of the Côte des Blancs. On the label, “Grand Cru” names the classified place, while “Blanc de Blancs” identifies a white Champagne made from white grapes, here Chardonnay. Those terms place Michel Turgy's wines geographically and stylistically before the bottle is opened.
The producer's range stays within that framework. There are no contrasting red grape varieties in the named wines supplied here. Instead, the difference comes from blending and ageing, allowing Chardonnay from the same Grand Cru sector to appear as both a Brut reserve blend and a dry vintage release.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The grapes are harvested by hand and pressed gently in a traditional upright Champagne press. Gentle extraction begins the cellar work with care around the fruit, before the juice ferments on indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.
Full malolactic fermentation follows before the wines move into ageing. Vintage wines spend five to seven years on fine lees, depending on the vintage, and the Millésime receives five to six years specifically. Lees ageing gives the vintage release its stated creamy, full-bodied profile, while the stainless steel tanks keep the fermentation vessel technically simple and temperature controlled.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Reserve Selection is 100% Chardonnay with 30% reserve wine. Its reserve component draws on a library spanning nearly two decades, giving the non-vintage blend access to older wines as well as the current base. The tasting profile runs through lemon custard, fresh quince, toasted brioche and honeysuckle, with mineral, marine and floral notes around a textured palate.
The Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut Millésime takes a different route. It is a vintage Chardonnay wine aged five to six years on fine lees with no dosage. It is full-bodied and creamy, with Chardonnay from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger at its centre. Reserve Selection is the blended Brut; Millésime is the longer-aged, undosed vintage expression.