Grand Cru Selections

Champagne Robert Moncuit (new)

Champagne Robert Moncuit

Le Mesnil sur Oger, Champagne, France

 

Pierre Amillet

 
 

The Moncuit family has a long history of farming some of the best vineyards in the Côte des Blancs. They began purchasing land in 1889 and by 1928 were bottling at the domaine.

The current winemaker, Pierre Amillet, is the fourth generation to lead the winery. If you spend any time with him you quickly realize he is obsessed with Chardonnay grown in the chalky terroirs of Le Mesnil. (We’re not exaggerating, we’ve got the rocks he has suitcased over to us to prove it!)

  • The estate has 8 hectares planted in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and 2 hectares in Oger. All the wines assume optimum maturity, through fermentation in barrels (350 liters), systematic malolactic fermentation, aging of three years for the brut and five years for the vintages, aged for their part under cork.

  • Les Chetillons is a parcel that has been in Pierre’s family for over 70 years. Pierre, taking over the domaine in 2000 is only the second winemaker to bottle a wine solely from Les Chetillons. He did this because he found this site achieved the purest expression of the village, Le Mesnil.

    This parcel sits directly on chalk, no clay or anything else. Along with chalk soils, there are old vines that extend down 10 meters into the soil. For Pierre, terroir is directly linked to the vigor of the root system and soil.

  • Since 2000, Pierre Amillet, has continued his family's vision: to bring out the terroir of Le Mesnils as authentically as possible, working organically and strengthening the natural microcosm of the vineyard.

  • Almost all of the wines are fermented and raised in a combination of tank and oak, the goal being contact with the lees and the preservation of Mesnil’s ability to yield wines with pronounced minerality and precision. The malos happen naturally and they don't filter or chapitalize.

Wines

Brut Blanc de Blancs NV

Robert Moncuit's NV Blanc de Blancs is sourced from parcels of Chardonnay located in the villages of Mesnil and Oger. It is around 80% of its base vintage and 20% reserve wine from the preceding vintage.

Winemaker Pierre Amillet's vinification style is consistent across all of his wines. He uses a combination of neutral oak and stainless steel in order to preserve the minerality and focus that Chardonnay grown in chalk can have. Around 80% of this release’s base vintage was raised in used oak while only 20% of reserve wine was. The dosage is 5 grams per liter.

Réserve Perpetuelle Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV

Robert Moncuit's Reserve Perpetuelle is a blend of reserve wines from various vintages, each of which is kept in tank separately before they are blended. The current release spans six different vintages, 2006 - 2012, and the dosage is 2 grams per liter. It is the same wine that the domaine used to just call Blanc de Blancs Extra NV.

Millésime

The Millésime is made from all of the domaine’s oldest Chardonnay vines from Mesnil, excluding the Chetillons parcels.

Les Vozémieux

The domaine currently has a 1.5 hectare parcel in Oger, Mesnil's neighboring village to the north. 66 ares of the 1.5 hectares are in the climat of "Les Vozemieux". (1 are is 1/100th of a hectare, so 66 ares is 0.66 hectare.) The vines in Les Vozemiux were planted in 1955.

2010 was the first vintage of Les Vozemieux. Pierre decided to vinify this climat separately because he wanted to see what difference, if any, there would be between his parcel of Chetillons in Mesnil and Les Vozemieux in Oger.

Vinfication of Les Vozemieux is the same as Les Chetillons:

  • Both are fermented in barrel.
  • Malo is done
  • Both are in wood until the summer after harvest.
  • The wine is bottled the summer after harvest and aged on cork.
  • No chapitalization or filtration.
  • The wine is Extra Brut and close to being zero dosage.

If you taste Chetillons next to Vozemieux. Vozemieux is more open, rounder, and more forward. Chetillons is leaner and the more direct of the two. The only difference between Chetillons and Vozemieux is soil and terroir. Even the age of the vines is similar. Vozeumeix's exposition is due north so it matures later then Chetillons. Chetillons is southeast facing. The two parcels are only 500 meters apart. (So about a third of a mile.)

  • Pierre Amillet

Les Chétillons Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs

The first vintage of Chetillons produced by Champagne Robert Moncuit was from the 2008 vintage. Les Chetillons, made famous by Champagne Pierre Peters, is a vineyard we have long admired. It encapsulates the heights that Chardonnay can reach in the Côte des Blancs. Robert Moncuit's Les Chetillons comes from a two hectare parcel planted in 1956 in the village of Mesnil.

It is fermented in tonneaux and left in barrel until the April after harvest. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation. It is bottled the July after harvest and is aged on cork before being disgorged. The wine is not chaptalized or filtered and is zero dosage.