Montagne de Reims · Frankreich
Huré Frères
Champagne Huré Frères in Ludes farms around ten hectares of vines in the Montagne de Reims, spread across some forty plots in Ludes, Villedommange, Brouillet, Serzy and Prin. François Huré has run the house since 2008 and makes the decisions in the cellar, while his brother Pierre joined in 2013 and oversees the vineyards. Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir account for most of the surface area, Chardonnay around twenty percent. The plots are harvested and vinified separately, with blending happening only later; herbicides were abandoned in the mid-2000s. In the cellars at Ludes lies a solera that has been topped up every year since 1982 and never emptied.
Ludes, Villedommange and the Ardre Valley
Ludes lies to the east of the Montagne de Reims and is classified Premier Cru; the chalky, clay-rich soils give wines built to age. Villedommange, on the western side, brings fullness and balance. In the Ardre Valley, in Brouillet, Serzy and Prin, the climate runs cooler, which keeps freshness in the base wines. Across all the sites, the soils form a mosaic of chalk, clay and sandy elements that suits Pinot Meunier well. Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir each take up around 40 to 50 percent of the surface, Chardonnay around two hectares.
Georges, Raoul and the Huré brothers
Georges Huré bought an estate in 1960, at his wife Jeanne's urging. In 1971 his three sons, among them Raoul Huré, took over and gave the house its name. Since 2008, François Huré, Raoul's son, has run the estate; he studied in Dijon and worked in Australia and New Zealand before returning to Ludes. In 2013 his brother Pierre Huré joined, and has overseen the vineyards ever since.
Forty plots, vinified separately
Each of the roughly forty plots is harvested and vinified on its own, with blending following only later and selectively. This approach is taken furthest in the 4 éléments range: one plot, one grape variety, one vintage, its own vinification. The Chardonnay comes from Les Blanches Voies, the Pinot Noir from La Perthe in Ludes, where clay and sand lie over limestone, the Pinot Meunier from La Grosse Pierre. The Pinot Noir ages eighteen months in 600-litre demi-muids, malolactic fermentation is blocked there, and after disgorgement the wine is aged under natural cork.
The Instantanée Blanc de Noirs is a vintage Champagne made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from Ludes and Rilly-la-Montagne, whose base wines ferment and age in barrel. The Inspiration combines Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from north-facing plots, the base wine aged in new 350-litre barrels and then kept for twelve years sur lattes under natural cork.
The solera and the Mémoire cuvée
Since 1982 the solera at Ludes has been topped up with wine every year. Depending on the vintage, it supplies 25 to 40 percent of the Invitation, which brings together Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay from Ludes, Villedommange and Vavray Grand in the Vitriat. Above all, though, it feeds the Mémoire, in which more than thirty vintages lie layered on top of one another; brioche and dried fruit sit alongside an acidity that holds the wine together.