Champagne Brut Nature
Meunier

The Champagne Meunier by Olivier Horiot is a tribute to a rare grape variety that has limited presence in the Domaine's varietal portfolio, capable of telling in single-parcel form the roundest and most enveloping face of the cépage. It comes from Les Riceys, at the southernmost edge of the Côte des Bar, and fits into a vision of Champagne rooted in biodynamics and in an idea of wine reduced to the essential. The label, signed by artist Jules Maillard, is a tribute to peasant polyculture, the historic soul of this corner of Champagne.

This edition, 2018 harvest, expresses 100% Meunier grapes from the Marnes Grises parcel of Les Riceys, the same one that gives origin to Horiot's celebrated Soléra. Vinification and fermentation are carried out with slow and natural fermentations, very few sulphites and without fining or filtration. After tirage, the wine undergoes a prolonged maturation on the lees of over four years. Without final dosage, in Brut Nature style, the cuvée offers itself in its most transparent form.

On the palate, the wine displays a golden hue with luminous reflections crossed by a fine and creamy perlage, leading into an enveloping nose that weaves ripe yellow fruit, baked apple, a brushstroke of dark cocoa and pastry nuances, completed by an iodised whisper. The entry is round and soft, with a generous texture supported by a well-modulated acidity and a salinity that runs through the entire sip, returning the sweet and enveloping mark of the grape variety. The balance plays on the contrast between roundness and mineral tension, while the finish closes long, beguiling and rhythmic, leaving an aftertaste of rare harmony. Production in a limited run of 568 bottles.