CONTEMPORARY WINEGROWER
Benoît DÉHU , 8th generation of a line of winegrowers, has been producing increasingly precise and representative champagnes for around fifteen years. Pinot Meunier on lands located in the far west of the Vallée de la Marne.
VINE – CULTURE – VINIFICATION – AGEING
Benoît has the unique opportunity to both manage the estate and explore his passion for naturally grown, handmade and artisanal champagnes under his own label, Champagne Benoît Déhu. With his vision towards the natural viticulture and a desire to understand in depth the potential of the Meunier grape variety, he cultivates select vines in biodynamic, part of which is worked with horses. From these vines, he produces a Champagne single-varietal, single-vintage and single-varietal called "La Rue des Noyers", named after the plot of land that was once lined with hazelnut trees (Noyers). The wine is fermented and aged in oak barrels, many of which come from trees in the nearby Fossoy forest. From this same plot, Benoît also produces a white and red Coteaux Champenois. All three wines are made from 100% Meunier. This extremely targeted micro-project allows Benoît to better understand the Meunier grape variety through three distinct expressions of Meunier from the same terroir. Benoît has introduced two new Champagnes to his arsenal. The Initiation is a blend of Meunier de La Rue des Noyers and Pinot Noir from a small plot dominated by clay and sand at the bottom of the hillside, which Benoît planted from the Pommard clone of massal selection from Burgundy. The second addition, L'Orme, is made from 100% Pinot Noir from a tiny plot previously planted with elm trees (Orme), and captures the attributes of complexity, personality and class that make Déhu Champagnes so alluring. The style of Benoît's low and zero dosage wines is intense, with beautiful tension and minerality.
