Pierre Moncuit 2006 Grand Cru Non Dose Champagne

This wine is quite chiseled and precise with a laser like aroma set of wet stones, clotted cream, apricots, yellow plum, quince, lemon and tangerine oil, and just there pastry notes. The palate shows a very *salivary gland activating* acidity with flavors of zippy white stone chalkiness, stone fruits, just there cream and a bit of butterscotch to balance the cut of the chalky minerality. D&M Tasting Notes

Pierre Moncuit has consistently been on our shelves for many years, so we wanted to take the time at the front end here reminding you (and us) about what makes Pierre Moncuit so special. The house of Moncuit began with Alex Moncuit who in 1889 purchased a few acres of vines in Le Mesnil south of Oger. His son, Pierre Moncuit, decided after taking over his father’s holdings in 1923 to make and sell Champagne under his own name, rather than selling the grapes to the large houses. He was helped in this shift and endeavor by his wife Odile Moncuit-Delos (the name of the cuvee for our beloved Non-Vintage offering.) In 1977 Pierre’s daughter, Nicole Moncuit, began helping her father with grape growing and the winemaking duties in the cellar. Pierre’s declining health led to Nicole fully in charge of production by 1982. This was not a one woman show, however; Nicole’s brother Yves has worked with his sister since the early 1980s in marketing and administration, allowing her to focus on making the best Champagne possible.

Since 2007, Nicole’s daughter, Valérie Charpentier, has largely taken over the production side of things from her mother. The Moncuit family has holdings in three villages, but the vast majority of their land is in Le Mesnil sur Oger (15 of their 20 hectares.) The Moncuit family is steward to some of the oldest vines in the village of Les Mesnil as they have not undergone a replanting regime of their vines in over 30 years. As house styles go, they were one of the first to just release single vintage bottlings, even for their “non-vintage” cuvees. As Valérie has stated: “The terroir does not change, neither do the vines and neither does the person who makes the wine. So there are always common threads. I think there are nuances rather than differences from year to year. We keep our signature." 

One trend that we have seen with Moncuit under Valérie’s stewardship is a drop in the dosage (residual sugar) which has enhanced the core of minerality that emerges from the white chalky soils of Le Mesnil. This combined with Nicole’s long time implementation of stainless steel fermentation and malolactic conversion makes for crystalline Champagnes that still have a sense of presence to them. Michael Kennel, D&M