La Terre Mère, Brut

A Champagne that takes Meunier seriously: warm, spicy, powerful, with a rich texture and an acidity that keeps that fullness in motion.

The grapes come from two historic plots in Troissy in the Vallée de la Marne: La Pièce des Cotéas, west-facing, 115 to 119 metres, 0.25 hectares, and La Pièce des Uselants, sloping north to north-west, 127 to 130 metres, 0.10 hectares. The soils consist of sand and sandstone with a brown, calcareous topsoil over a sandy-stony clay-marl base.

100 percent Pinot Meunier, cuvée and taille remain unseparated. Fermentation happens spontaneously in large oak vats, 400-litre barrels and stoneware amphorae, without malolactic fermentation and without bâtonnage. Tirage in April 2020, around 30 months of lees ageing under crown cap, disgorgement in February 2022, dosage around 3 g/l.

The nose opens with roasted chestnuts, sliced red apple, pale nougat, salted almonds and milky coffee, along with dried cranberries, redcurrants, apple skin and a note of caramel and biscuit. On the palate this warm impression continues: the acidity aims more toward orange than lemon, more toward the oil of the zest than the juice. A broad, spicy flow, ripe extract-rich fruit, a chalky, fine-grained texture, creamy yeasty spice, with hay and baked goods behind it. The mousse remains fine and supportive.

Goose pâté with baked quince, pain de Gênes, and mackerel rillettes with crusty bread and fresh salad.

Alexis Leconte runs the family estate based in Troissy-Bouquigny in its sixth generation, farming around 10 hectares across roughly 40 plots according to biodynamic principles, with cover cropping, deep ploughing and work carried out according to lunar and seasonal cycles. Each plot is fermented separately.