2018 Emmanuel Brochet "Les Hautes Vignes Le Mont Benoit" 1er Cru Extra Brut Champagne

Les Hautes Vignes is the top of Emmanuel Brochet's hill: the 1962 plantings at the summit of Le Mont Benoit, the single 2.5 hectare 1er Cru slope in Villers aux Noeuds that has made Brochet one of the most collectible growers in Champagne. For years he bottled this upper section as two single variety wines, Les Hauts Chardonnay and Les Hauts Meuniers; Les Hautes Vignes brings it together as one vintage cuvee of equal parts Chardonnay and Meunier. He started producing his own wine in 1997, the first of his family to do so, and has been certified organic since 2011 after about ten years of farming without chemicals. The 2018 was fermented with native yeasts, aged 11 months in oak, then rested six years on its lees in bottle before disgorgement and an Extra Brut finish. The result is broad and layered, with Chardonnay cut over Meunier depth, a Champagne built for further cellaring and for the table rather than the aperitif.