This Spring I took a trip with the lovely and talented importer Transatlantic Bubbles. It was through-and-through a Champagne trip, with one exception: visiting the village Molesme, 7 miles from the Champagne border.

It is located in the Aube, but technically classified in the Côte d'Or; truly riding the line between Burgundy and Champagne. Making both tremendous still and sparkling wines, it's a satellite that seems to orbit both worlds – and, at a fraction of the price.

We decided to bring in the best of both the still and sparkling wines and explore this very interesting, delicious (and tbh, under the radar) terroir. — Chris

If you’ve been to the Côte des Bar, you know—it’s a world apart from the rest of Champagne. A few hours south, with modest towns and no Grande Marques in sight, it’s humbler, quieter. To understand this disposition is to know its history: the larger Aube region was excluded from Champagne in 1911, sparking the Champagne Riots—a clash over identity and economics. It wasn’t until 1927 that the region was folded back into the AOC.

But Molesme was left out.

Just steps from Les Riceys, it shares the same Kimmeridgian limestone, Pinot-focused vineyards, and measured pace—but an address in the Côte d'Or made it a bureaucratic orphan. Too far south for Champagne; too far north for classic Burgundy.

Producers in Molesme can't even put its name on the label—though you’ll see clever workarounds from the producers below.

The wines evoke Chablis in their terroir; but culturally, feel firmly of Champagne and its new guard. And, we can't recommend them enough.

Crémant de Bourgogne, but make it Aube:

Bruno Dangin

Of course it took a Champagne grower to see the potential for serious, soil-driven sparkling in this overlooked village. Bruno Dangin, after studying in Avize and spending 35 years at his family’s Aube-based winery (Paul Dangin), was inspired to start something new: an organic domaine from scratch. Molesme offered prized terroir for pennies on the dollar, and in 2011, he launched his namesake winery with 5 hectares planted almost entirely to Pinot Noir.

Today, with his son Matthieu, the farming is even more forward-thinking—trees planted between rows, smart canopy work, all to prepare for climate change. In the cellar, they focus on the site’s stoniness and lift: native fermentations, élevage in tank for Blanc de Noirs and Rosé, and time in wood for 'Réserve de Valentin'. Low to no dosage across the board.

SHOP BRUNO DANGIN

Straight from the Aube

Marie de Louvoy (Alix Dangin)

Alix Dangin offers a singular take on Molesme’s Champagne-method wines. Like Bruno, she grew up just down the road in Polisy, a village familiar to Marie Courtin fans with deep roots in the Aube. After marrying Matthieu Dangin and working alongside him at the domaine, she began crafting wines under her own name from family vines.

The organic farming stays consistent, but Alix favors an oxidative approach, raising and fermenting everything in old wood. Her wines share the mineral backbone, but speak more to spice and barrel-influenced Pinot than zesty fruit.

 They feel right at home in Champagne’s new vanguard.

SHOP MARIE DE LOUVOY

The Champenois making Bourgogne Blanc:

Vincent Couche

Leave it to Vincent Couche, one of Champagne’s most boundary-pushing vignerons, to craft a still white wine that reveals the Chablis-like side of this terroir. Best known for long-aged, late-released Champagnes, Couche turns his attention here to Bourgogne Blanc within Molesme. 

Everything here is farmed like his Champagne-based vines (that is, biodynamic). The Chardonnay is raised for two years in a mix of wood and amphora, for a white that dances between crisp acidity and his signature oxidative, nutty character.

 If anyone’s heard of Molesme, it’s likely thanks to his relentless work in the village.

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