With winemakers at Krug, Egly-Ouriet and other premium growers now championing Meunier and winemakers like Jerome Prevost becoming superstars for 100% Meunier wines, the grape's potential for quality Champagne is no longer controversial. More friendly in profile than high acid Chardonnay and structured Pinot Noir, Meunier is Champagne's most easy to love variety. Seriously delicious with zesty electric berry fruit and hedonistically round texture in even the poorest years, Meunier is becoming the star of the show and popping up in more and more single variety cuvées. What might surprise some is that beyond its proponents at top houses, smaller growers like the Heucq family have been pushing Meunier's potential in Champagne and crafting artisan wines for neatly 100 years (since 1936) over four generations
Huecq's holdings are in Cuisles in the Vallée de la Marne, the same home village as Cédric Moussé of Famille Moussé, and his vines sit on a plot of unique green mica-inflected clay, known as illite, which is ideally suited to Meunier, though some Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines are planted too. Artisan is the perfect word to desribe these Champagnes. Fourth generation Alexandre and Fanny Heucq artfully craft their wines with meticulous care, using biodynamic principles and very hands-on work in the vines at all times. The winemaking profile will especially please those fans of Krug's immediate opulence due Heucq's practice of vinfying and maturing the wines in second use Meursault barrels, and having the wines age on the lees agrafé, meaning under a cork stopper instead of a crown cap, which is thought to produce more complexity. The 'Assemblage' bottling blends 40% Chardonnay with 30% each Meunier and Pinot Noir, with 30% ageing in second use Meursault barriques and 60 months of lees ageing. It's round and toasty with crunchy berry fruit and a refreshing linearity that comes with its Extra Brut dosage level. The Parcellaire Les Roches is a single vineyard e expression that takes the intensity and power up quite a few notches. This is composed of 100% Meunier vinfied entirely in second use Meursault barrique, which adds an opulence to the wine that is balanced with 36 months on the lees and an extra low dosage. Both of these wines prove that Meunier can stand with the best of Champagne when in the right hands.
100% Meunier aged on the lees for 36 months from the single Les Roches site. Only 700 bottles were produced.
