Grapes: Chardonnay + Meunier + Pinot Noir
Region: Valle de la Marne, Champagne, France
Vintage: NV
Viticulture: Organic
Soils: Limestone + Clay
Yeasts: Native
Vinification: Direct press the fermented in stainless steel tanks. Aged 30% in oak barrels and 70% in stainless for 6 months
Aging: 60 months on lees in bottle
Fining or Filtering: Disgorged
Dosage: 1.8 g/l
Notes from the Importer: Champagne André Heucq centers on the Pinot Meunier grape. 80% of the vineyard is planted to the variety with the rest split equally between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines. This devotion is confirmed by Peter Liem’s praise of the unique terroir in his book Champagne: “This is prime Meunier country, with vines growing on various clays, marls, and sands.” More specifically, Heucq’s terroir is defined by a layer of “green illite,” a crystalline-mineral clay that is not found anywhere else in Champagne. The illite brings out the purity of the Meunier.
The family has embraced biodynamics since before the 1990s and continues to plough by horse, maintain natural ground cover, and stick to natural fertilizers and herbal tea treatments. The winery itself, perched at the north of the right-bank village of Cuisles, is self-sustaining and ECOCERT certified for producing its own electricity, recycling wastewater, and it is thermoregulated by a cooling Canadian well system. For the wines, oak is used to elevate the character of Pinot Meunier, sugar dosages are restrained to preserve the terroir, and sulfite levels stay between 15 and 20mg/L.
