Val Frison is a tiny, woman-led domaine. It's really a one-woman show, a circumstance that will be familiar to fans of Marie-Noelle Ledru. Valerie Frison has only 6 hectares out in the Côte des Bar,... Read More

Val Frison is a tiny, woman-led domaine. It's really a one-woman show, a circumstance that will be familiar to fans of Marie-Noelle Ledru. Valerie Frison has only 6 hectares out in the Côte des Bar, that obscure corner of Champagne where some of the limestone is kimmeridgian, as in Chablis and Chavignol. But Val Frison is mostly planted to Pinot Noir. The closest analogue might be Cotat's red Sancerres. But not that close: after all, these are white wines with bubbles!

All by herself, she farms organically and her winemaking is as natural and non-interventionist as it is practical.

If you love Ledru, this is the kind of wine you should look at now that Ledru's production is winding down and her wines have become so hard to find. We don't know if Val Frison is exactly the next Ledru. It's not like they taste the same.

But we do know that the Champagnes are fantastic, mineral-driven, distinct, and yet classically appealing.