Champagne, a few spring bubbles

Laurent Vuillaume | 3/22/22

Champagne isn't just for the end of the year! In fact, it's "the" dream wine for celebrating spring: its bubbles, finesse, fruitiness, freshness, vitality and low alcohol content make you want to pop the cork with nature's renewal. And it's Pinot Meunier in particular that we'll be turning to this year.

Misunderstood at best, unjustly mistreated at worst, Pinot Meunier, rarely vinified on its own, delivers champagnes with the fresh, vibrant taste of spring. This grape variety, which accounts for a third of the vines planted in Champagne, takes its name from the fluffy coating on its leaves, reminiscent of flour. The least we can say is that it has long had a bad reputation. Considered solely for the volume of juice it produces, and a little for the fruitiness it brings to blends, pinot meunier, known locally as meunier, was the ugly duckling that was willingly hidden away. Not a single cuvée bore its name on the label, not a single meunier vine featured in the grand crus, while chardonnay and pinot noir were ultra-valued. Over the last ten years or so, under the influence of great winemakers such as Francis Égly, Françoise Bedel and Vincent Charlot, meunier has made a comeback and is now the subject of specific cuvées, particularly among young winemakers. And so much the better, for Pinot Meunier is highly aromatic: it develops notes of white fruit (apple, pear), roundness and delicacy. But if you're not careful, it can quickly fall into either greenness (unripe) or softness (too much yield). On the other hand, when properly born, vinified and aged, Pinot Meunier is explosively fruity and straightforward: a real pleasure to taste and share!

Our selection reveals champagnes to be opened wide, whether among friends for the pleasure of fruit, or at the table to accompany dishes that will happily accommodate a gourmet wine.

Champagne Nathalie Falmet (1)

Cuvée ZH 302

Extra Brut

It's so difficult to describe a sensation so tenuous, so delicately subtle. It's like a first kiss, like a caress. Otherwise, there's also golden apple, candied citrus, smoke, peonies... And a lingering bitterness that leaves you speechless. Superb!

18/20

125 €

https:// www.caves-carriere.fr/fr/nathalie-falmet/9044-champagne-cuve-zh-302

Champagne Liébart-Régnier (2)

Cuvée "Sur le Grand Marais

Brut Nature

This 100% Pinot Meunier has a golden color with a hint of rose. The powerful nose opens with notes of tobacco, caramel and toast. Chiselled, the palate is marked by its zero dosage, which brings a beautiful tension to the wine. Serve with cod in citrus butter.

15/20

30 €

https:// boutique.lescavesduforum.fr/champagne-2/liebart-regnier-100-meunier-sur-le-grand-marais-brut-nature.html

Champagne Huré Frères (3)

Cuvée "4 Éléments Pinot Meunier" 2015

In the house's range, expressions of a single grape variety bear the name "4 Elements". This Pinot Meunier, from a 1963 vineyard on a limestone hilltop, offers an ultra-fine, delicately toasted, elegant nose. It's a far cry from the heavy Pinot Meuniers we all too often encounter. The palate is energetic, racy and vibrant. Here, ageing doesn't mark the wine, it drives it.

17/20

69 €

https:// www.drinksco.fr/champagne/hure-freres-4-elements-pinot-meunier-2015

Champagne Chevreux-Bournazel (4)

Cuvée "La Capella

Only 1100 bottles for this 40-acre micro-vineyard, cultivated like a biodynamic garden. This pure Pinot Meunier, aged in oak barrels, offers a vibrant, dynamic, powerful yet particularly sparkling wine. A superb champagne with an assertive personality.

17/20

104 €

https://www.gourmethunters.com/fr/Chevreux+Bournazel+La+Parcelle+La+Capella+2017

Champagne Marie Copinet (5)

Nos Pas dans l'Argile" vintage

Once again, we're flabbergasted by the approach of Marie-Laure and Alexandre Copinet, the heirs to this house that seeks out the soul of the wine with a kind of infusion of the grape's qualities. It's textured, structured, but fine, without ever forgetting the fruit or the pleasure.

15,5/20

34,90 €

https:// www.la-champagnerie.com/champagne-marie-copinet-nos-pas-dans-l-argile-c2x35020499

Champagne Roger Coulon (6)

Cuvée "Heri-Hodie

This cuvée, made from Pinot Meunier in perpetual reserve, has a golden amber color and a powerful nose with slightly oxidative notes. Dried fruits mingle with a touch of vegetal. The ample, generous palate takes us on a journey of sweet spices.

16/20

39,60 €

https:// www.plus-de-bulles.com/fr/champagne-roger-coulon/heri-hodie.html

Champagne Égly-Ouriet (7)

Cuvée "Les Vignes de Vrigny

With its deep gold color, this 100% Pinot Meunier cuvée is easy to understand why Francis Égly has been so involved in the development of this single-vineyard variety. Thanks to a particularly ambitious ageing process, the nose has the right touch of ripe fruit and baked apples. Ripe grapes provide perfect balance on the palate, combining tension, harmony and length. A superb wine to enjoy with veal escalope à la Normande.

17/20

59,95 €

https:// www.plus-de-bulles.com/fr/egly-ouriet/699-les-vignes-de-vrigny.html

Champagne Charlot-Tanneux (8)

Cuvée "Les Meuniers de Moussy" 2017

A pure pinot meunier vinified in oak barrels, adorned with a very pale rosé color, a clear sign of no discoloration. The nose is very delicate, full of finesse, with very "young" fruity notes, in the good sense of the word. On the palate, the wine is fresh, very fair and intensely drinkable. Open as an aperitif, serving well chilled to allow it to warm up and air out in the glass.

16/20

Approx. €40 direct from the estate.

https:// champagne-charlot-tanneux.fr/cuvees/les-meuniers-de-moussy-2/

Champagne Emmanuel Brochet (9)

Cuvée "Les Hauts Meuniers" 2014

Made from old vines dating back to 1962, this Champagne has small bakery notes and a real basket of full white fruits that make it complex from the outset. The round, suave and vibrant palate offers lovely length on an almost smoky, powdery chalky side on the finish. We're dreaming of a nice baked sea bass to accompany it.

17/20

95 €

https:// www.caves-legrand.com/

Champagne Françoise Bedel (10)

Cuvée "Dis, Vin Secret

Extra Brut

From a base of the 2015 harvest, this luminous wine with delicate bubbles precedes a fine, gourmand nose, celebrating the greatness of well-vinified pinot meuniers from the Marne: on the palate, the wine reveals itself to be exceptionally fluid, digestible and mineral. Crystal-clear! To be savored on its own merits.

17,5/20

47,40 €

https:// www.plus-de-bulles.com/fr

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