The Collin family has farmed in the Coteaux du Petit Morin since 1812, but independent production was interrupted in 1987 when Olivier’s father leased the vineyards to Pommery. Olivier studied law in part to reclaim them, and after a formative apprenticeship with Anselme Selosse, he made his first wine from the 2004 vintage. Ulysse Collin is now one of the most sought-after grower-producers in Champagne, based in the village of Congy and the only estate to release every wine as a single-vineyard expression. The wines are fermented with native yeasts in Burgundian barrels, aged on the lees for extended periods, and finished with minimal dosage.

Les Pierrières was Collin’s first wine and still anchors the range. The 1.2-hectare monopole sits in Congy, with chardonnay vines over forty years old on thin, poor topsoil above soft Campanian chalk shot through with carbonated silex — black flint — a geological rarity specific to the Coteaux du Petit Morin. The terroir gives the wine a bracing, electric character unlike almost anything else in Champagne.

Where Les Maillons is robust and savory, Pierrières is all chiseled precision: brioche and lemon curd lifted by flinty, gleaming minerality that keeps the wine ringing on the palate. The warmth of the 2020 base fills out the frame, with extended lees aging lending depth and polish.