Oger – Grand Cru

The wine's story:

Oger is Domaine Vincey's home village in the Côte des Blancs and the name of this cuvée. The wine is a blend of several Oger Grand Cru plots, where heavy brown clay lies over Cretaceous chalk and the slopes face south-east and north-east. The vines were planted between 1937 and 1992, and 90% of them were propagated by massal selection. The base wine of this release is from the 2022 harvest.

Quentin Vincey is the eighth generation of growers in Oger. With Marine Zabarino he began bottling the family's grapes himself in 2014; the vineyards are in conversion to organic and biodynamic farming.

Winemaking:

100% Chardonnay. After pressing in a wooden Coquard press, the juice ferments with indigenous yeasts in 228–500-litre French oak barrels, 15% of them new; malolactic fermentation happens naturally. The base wine matures in barrel for 12 months on its lees; it is neither fined nor filtered, and no sulphites are added. The second fermentation is started with the estate's own grape must, which brings both natural sugars and yeasts (tirage au moût). The bottles were closed with cork in September 2023; they were riddled by hand and disgorged by hand in January 2026. No dosage was added.

Tasting notes:

Oger is a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs made from 100% Chardonnay, with no dosage added. The base wine was fermented and matured in oak barrels, and the second fermentation took place with the estate's own grape must.

Food pairing:

Scallops in browned butter – the dryness of an undosed Champagne balances the butter. White fish with beurre blanc; roast chicken with tarragon; Comté.

Ratings & accolades:

Jeb Dunnuck – 91/100 (base 2021)

Jeb Dunnuck – 91–92/100 (base 2020)

Robert Parker Wine Advocate – 91/100 (base 2020)

Jeb Dunnuck – 92/100 (base 2019)