Champagne Blanc de Noirs extra brut Terre de Meunier

Disgorged in July 2022 and based on the 2019 vintage, the NV Extra-Brut Terre de Meunier offers up inviting aromas of pear, dried flowers, clear honey, freshly baked bread and smoky reduction, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy palate with a deep core of fruit, a pillowy mousse and a long, saline finish. As its name suggests, this cuvée is Dehours's homage to Pinot Meunier, the dominant cépage in this sector of Champagne.

Located in Cerseuil, this 16-hectare domaine's holdings, divided among over 40 parcels, are situated on the left bank of the Marne, on one of its tributaries, encompassing a wide variety of expositions. Rich in clay and subject to landslides, these steep slopes are founded on limestone, not chalk, with a band of sand at around 120 meters in altitude, making for similarly diverse geology. Meunier is king in this sector, and the village is a popular source for Maison Krug. It's in this context that Jérôme Dehours crafts his complex, flavorsome, vinous Champagnes. In 1999, after studies in Beaune, Dehours introduced the domaine's first oak barrels and began isolating single vineyards. Today, he cultivates under the vine mechanically (with one complete cultivation per year); picks late with lots of sorting when it's required; and increasingly ferments in larger 500-liter barrels rather than their smaller counterparts, retaining lots of solids to nourish the vins clairs during their élevage. After pushing his wines in a rather more patinated, oxidative direction in the last few years, he's reining things in: subtly increasing the use of sulfites and refreshing his solera of reserve wines to avoid falling into extremes. His latest releases are all well worth following, and the quality he achieved in the 2017 vintage, especially challenging for Meunier, is testament to the seriousness that readers can expect at this address. I'll be hoping to catch up with his latest lieu-dit bottlings in the near future, but for now, everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.

Published: Dec 14, 2023 by William Kelley
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