Benoit Marguet - 'Yuman - 1er Cru Blanc de Blanc' - Champagne - Villers Mamery, Champagne, FR - 2018

Just great. This wine kicks so much ass!
This wine is more structured and intense than almost any champagne we know. Aged in oak and naturally fermented, this 100% chardonnay is built on character and great farming. Certified biodynamic is near impossible to achieve in champagne, and yet Marguet achieves it with great success here and all his wines.
A terrific wine that anyone will love.

Benoit Marguet is the fifth generation to run the small champagne house. He can therefore draw on vines that are on average 38 years old - the oldest vines date back to 1925. His own 8 hectares of vineyards are located in Ambonnay and Bouzy and are all certified organic or biodynamic. In addition, grapes from the family are bought in and processed. Since 2010, a Grand Cru line has been produced from these purchased grapes.

In 2008, Marguet began to pursue the idea of vineyard sites and produced single-vineyard champagnes from some sites - first and foremost "Les Crayères".

All champagnes are aged in wood, which Benoit finds more natural than the cool environment of a steel tank. The base wines go through malolactic fermentation, as this usually happens automatically and he does not want to interfere with the process.

Benoit is very spiritually inspired, using the lunar calendar, horses in the vineyard, as well as essential oils. Sulphur is also being cut back more and more.

Since 2006, Marguet has been working with Hervé Jestin, the former cellar master of Duval-Leroy, who advises many wineries in Champagne. Benoit also learned homeopathic and biodynamic practices from him. The two of them, in cooperation with Benoit Lahye, George Laval and David Léclapart, brought out a top cuvée for the first time with the 2006 vintage under the name Sapience.

Marguet's champagnes are highly aromatic, strong in character, complex and gripping representatives that are excellent food companions.