Notes:
Producer: Hélène Charbaut represents the fourth generation of her family's estate, Guy Charbaut, in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. After studying viticulture and gaining practical experience with growers including Leclerc Briant and Péhu-Simonet, she launched her own range of terroir-driven Champagnes beginning with the 2020 vintage. Rather than producing a traditional house blend, Charbaut's philosophy focuses on isolating individual grape varieties and parcels to better understand how each expresses the soils of the Grande Vallée de la Marne. The family farms Premier Cru vineyards in Bisseuil, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, and Avenay-Val-d'Or, using sustainable farming, mechanical soil cultivation, cover crops, and minimal chemical intervention. Fermentations are spontaneous with indigenous yeasts, sulfur additions are kept low, and each parcel is vinified separately in Burgundian oak barrels before bottling. Production remains extremely limited, with each cuvée intended to express a specific vineyard, grape variety, and vintage.
Vineyard: La Meunière is produced exclusively from the lieu-dit Le Chaudion in the Premier Cru village of Bisseuil. The parcel was planted in 1999 entirely to Pinot Meunier, a variety more commonly associated with the western Vallée de la Marne than the chalk-rich slopes of Bisseuil. Hélène Charbaut created this cuvée to demonstrate how Meunier behaves on a terroir where chalk dominates the clay-limestone soils, an uncommon combination for the variety. The vineyard benefits from a south-facing exposure, allowing complete ripening while the chalk subsoil preserves freshness and contributes a pronounced mineral profile. The wine forms part of Hélène's ongoing exploration of Champagne's three principal grape varieties through single-variety, single-vintage bottlings that highlight both site and growing season.
Winemaking: Produced from 100% hand-harvested Pinot Meunier, La Meunière is vinified entirely in 228-liter French oak barrels using indigenous yeasts. Fermentation and élevage occur on the fine lees for approximately nine months, allowing the wine to gain texture while maintaining vineyard transparency. The wine is bottled without fining or filtration, preserving both aromatic detail and mouthfeel before aging on its lees in bottle. The 2022 vintage was disgorged in November 2025 and released as Brut Nature, with no dosage, allowing the chalk-driven minerality and natural character of Pinot Meunier to remain fully exposed. The combination of barrel élevage, extended lees aging, and zero dosage reflects Charbaut's minimalist cellar philosophy, where intervention is limited and the vineyard remains the primary source of expression.
Food Pairing: The vinous character of Pinot Meunier and the absence of dosage make La Meunière particularly well suited to the table. It pairs naturally with roast chicken, pork loin, veal, pâté en croûte, mushroom dishes, guinea fowl, and roasted root vegetables. The wine's chalk-derived freshness also complements oysters, scallops, grilled langoustines, and lightly smoked fish, while its barrel-aged texture makes it an excellent companion to washed-rind cheeses such as Chaource and Langres, as well as aged Comté.
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