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Benoit Dehu, Champagne Cuvee Initiation Brut Nature, NV [2021]

Sparkling Wine from Champagne, France
$109.99
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Initiation is the way into Benoît Déhu's cellar. He created it in 2015 to blend his prized Meunier with Pinot Noir, and it gets the same uncompromising treatment as his single-parcel bottlings: no malolactic fermentation and no added sugar. Déhu is an eighth-generation grower on the western edge of the Vallée de la Marne. He came home after a formative stint at Bollinger and made Meunier his specialty, even though Champagne has long treated it as a supporting player. This bottling is 77% Meunier from his biodynamic La Rue des Noyers parcel in Fossoy, which sits on clay-limestone. The other 23% is Pinot Noir from a newer plot of clay and sand at the bottom of the hill, planted with vine material from Burgundy (Déhu used a massale selection of the Pommard clone). That lower parcel gives the wine its flinty streak. The grapes are picked by hand, and the wine ages ten months on its lees. It's bottled unfined and unfiltered, then rests another 24 to 30 months in bottle before disgorgement. With zero dosage there's nothing to smooth the edges, which is exactly why it's such an honest introduction to grower Champagne. Pour it into a proper wine glass, not a flute.

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More about Benoit Dehu

Benoit is a Meunier specialist, working his family's vineyards on the western edge of the Vallée de la Marne. Starting in 2011, he started bottling wines under his own name from a single parcel called La Rue des Noyers -- 100% Pinot Meunier, farmed biodynamically, and ploughed mostly by horse. In 2015, he started blending some of this PM with Pinot Noir from a nearby plot, and calls it Initiation.

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Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Pinot Meunier , Pinot Noir

  • Vintage

    NV

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Biodynamic

  • Style

    Elegant

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Light Bodied

Flatiron's Take

From the Importer

What Polaner Selections has to say about this wine:

Varietal Notes
77% Pinot Meunier 23% Pinot Noir
Biodynamic
Practicing
Vineyard
Blend of four parcels; Pinot Meunier from "La Rue des Noyers" in Fossoy, and Pinot Noir from a newer parcel with a terroir of sand and clay that is quite different from Noyers. It is on the bottom of the hill and gives a flinty quality to the wine. Terroir reminiscent of Burgundy with vines from a selection of high-quality plants in Burgundy.
Soil
Rue des Noyers: Clay-limestone Pinot parcel: Clay-sand
Viticulture
All hand-harvested
Vinification
Aged 10 months sur lie, no malolactic fermentation, bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Aging
24-30 months sur lattes.

Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Raw oysters with mignonette, scallop or fluke crudo, gougères, sushi and sashimi, tempura vegetables, or a plate of salty fried chicken.

Tasting Profile

Light-bodied and bone-dry, with an elegant style and a flinty edge. Skipping malolactic fermentation keeps the acidity bright, and with no dosage the finish is clean, crisp and completely dry.

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Map of main subregions of the Champagne wine region.

Champagne

Champagne boasts some of the world’s greatest luxury brands with Krug, Cristal and, of course, Dom Perignon. But it’s also home to hundreds of small dynamic producers—farmers who grow their own grapes (often organically) and make (often with natural methods) tiny amounts of pure and absolutely delicious wine that reflect the individual personalities of their villages and terroirs. Toast with these wines, for sure. But also treat them like the great wines they are: taste, drink, explore!

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