20 years on the lees, disgorged April 2023

50/50 Pinot Noir/Chardonnay

Certified Demeter Biodynamic 

for vincent couche, the distance from traditional power centers has been a fount
of freedom to make champagne as he sees fit. vincent comes from a third
generation winemaking family, but similar to nathalie falmet, does not highlight or
dwell on the family’s past but rather highlights the work the domaine is doing now.
vincent took over the domaine in 1999 and began a wholesale restructuring of
farming and cellar work. he first began by replanting his vineyard under the
direction of terroir specialist claude bourguignon. while that name may not mean
much in champagne, over the years claude has done work for a who’s who of
iconic french properties and producers mostly in burgundy: domaine romanee
conti, dujac, leflaive, selosse, dagueneau, and chave.

The couche family owns 32 acres of vines split between two different terroirs:
there are 7 acres of chardonnay vines in montgueux (with chalky soils similar to
chablis) and 25 acres of mostly pinot noir in buxeuil where the parcels mostly face
south and west on steep slopes overlooking the seine river. the overarching
philosophy that vincent follows is right there on the front label: his is a biodynamic
production. this embrace of biodynamics has been there since the start in 1999,
but certification takes time, and it wasn’t until 2008 that the domaine and the
cellars were certified biodynamic. in fact, in spite of the extended timeline of the
process, vincent’s cellar and fields in combination were the first to receive demeter
certification in all of champagne. simply put, Vincent is obsessed with his vines and
the healthy soils they grow in, and is dedicated to making wines in the cellar
without any additions. natural wines as a philosophy are having a moment right
now, and what we have here is a delicious example of that movement. at harvest
time vincent and his family pick the grapes by taste and touch, and generally
harvest over a week after his neighbours in both villages. because vincent won’t
add sugar to the wines, his grapes need higher sugar levels and higher levels of
ripeness than is the norm. in the cool deep cellar wines are fermented and aged in
oak and stainless steel without added yeast or nutrients and the wines don’t see
any additions