Earlier this spring, I had the pleasure of visiting Benoit Marguet at Champagne Marguet Pere & Fils in Ambonnay. If you’ve been on our list for a while, you know how much we enjoy seeing grower Champagne producers reach new heights. I have to admit that Benoit Marguet has me more excited than I’ve ever been about the category. Spending the day with Benoit was a bit of a religious experience. I purposefully waited to offer these wines out for a few months as I wanted to come back and taste them outside of his magical office and cellar and try to verbalize as best I can what I experienced that day and what I’ve come to learn about Benoit and appreciate over the past few months.
Benoit is the fifth generation to run this historic property in Ambonnay, where his family have been vineyard owners since the middle of the 19th century. He officially took control in 1999, and while he had been studying organic and biodynamic techniques since the late ‘90s, it wasn’t until 2006 that he felt compelled enough to go to his family and demand that they allow him to make the necessary changes to bring the farming and winemaking to a healthier place. His two year old daughter Valentine had just been diagnosed with a form of leukemia that was linked to the chemical treatments that are so common in the vineyards surrounding her school in Mesnil-sur-Oger and he felt inspired to do his part to try to help remove some of the harmful chemicals from their surroundings.
Benoit’s family was at first very skeptical. Organic viticulture is not at all the norm in Champagne today. Neither is plowing by horse, or plowing at all really. Over time, his family began to realize that he was producing better and better fruit as a result of the viticulture. In the cellar, Benoit started embracing minimalist techniques – native yeast, full malolactic fermentations in barrel and light sulfur only where necessary. He also began to isolate prized plots – vinifying them on their own and developing an entire line of limited, single vineyard offerings. He has a gift for making rosé and does so without seeing the color of the wine. His blends are assembled by aromas and texture rather than trying to concoct a specific shade of pink. His rosés are comprised of mostly Chardonnay, and he employs a combination of saignée and blending still Pinot Noir in for structure. By the time Benoit officially converted to biodynamics in 2008, he was making better wine, charging higher prices and clients were lining up left and right to obtain some of his prized bottlings, much like we’ve seen happening in Burgundy over the past 20 years. Benoit’s daughter, Valentine, who is thankfully fully healthy today, continues to be an inspiration.
We’ve seen the type of incredible wines that can be made from more cutting edge producers in the Aube and in more obscure appellations in northern Champagne when farming and place, rather than just process, are emphasized. We’ve not seen as much of this sort of approach in the most celebrated and historic vineyards in the region. Marguet’s wines show us that there is even more to unlock from these hallowed terroirs. There is an extra energy and drive to his wines that make them as compelling as any bottles coming out of Champagne today. Perhaps the most exciting part of all this is that Benoit has just begun to hit his stride. He didn’t start bottling the single vineyard cuvées until the ’08 vintage, and some of the wines below were the first of their kind to be released. He makes less than 2,000 bottles of each of the single vineyards per vintage, and the yet to be released ’12s I just tasted at the property are sure to capture legions of new fans. He’ll be a household name around MWC for many years to come and we’re pleased to be able to offer a wide selection of his wines today. Run, don’t walk and get you some Marguet!
The bottles below are offered on a first come, first served basis. Follow the links below to purchase on our site or call/email us if you need some assistance.
Cheers,
Matt Tornabene
.jpg "Manhattan Wine Company Update")
THE WINES
.jpg "Manhattan Wine Company Update")
Marguet Pere et Fils – Rose Champagne, Shaman (2014 Base) NV
13 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
This is Benoit’s entry level non-vintage rosé based on the 2014 vintage. It is comprised of 67% Chardonnay from Ambonnay and 33% Pinot Noir from both Ambonnay and Bouzy. Disgorged March 2017. Labeled Extra Brut but this is actually Brut Nature with 0g dosage.
Marguet Pere et Fils – Champagne, Extra Brut Grand Cru Ambonnay 2010
2 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
This is the vintage 2010 Ambonnay Cru or village bottling from Benoit’s biodynamically farmed plots around Ambonnay. It is comprised of 58% Pinot Noir and 42% Chardonnay. We have a few bottles of the February 2016 disgorgement. It was also bottled at 0g dosage, but you’d never know it as the wine has real breadth and sneaky power. This wine is drinking perfectly right now! A remarkably affordable vintage wine from all Grand Cru vineyards. Just under 12k bottles made.
Marguet Pere et Fils – Rose Champagne, Ambonnay Grand Cru 2011
12 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
The is the vintage 2011 Ambonnay Cru or Village rosé bottling from Benoit’s biodynamically farmed plots around Ambonnay. It is comprised of 66% Chardonnay and 34% Pinot Noir. Bottled in July 2012 and disgorged with zero grams dosage March 2016. Approximately 3,000 bottles produced. 2011 was certainly a challenging vintage in Champagne, but Benoit was able to make some magnificent wines. Here you’ll see Benoit’s magic touch with rosé on full display. A remarkable vintage rosé from a challenging vintage.
Marguet Pere et Fils – Champagne, Les Bermonts, Grand Cru Ambonnay 2010
2 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
The inaugural release of Benoit’s single vineyard, Les Bermonts from the 2010 vintage. Les Bermonts is a small vineyard planted in 1952 that lies on a flatter section of land to the south of the village of Ambonnay. It’s a mix of silty clay limestone soils that have eroded down from the hillsides above it and collected here over the centuries. Marguet has this planted entirely to Chardonnay! This is a tour de force Blanc de Blancs that will reward some additional time under cork. This was aged 3.5 years sur latte and disgorged December of 2014 with zero grams dosage.
Marguet Pere et Fils – Champagne, Le Parc, Grand Cru Ambonnay 2011
5 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
The inaugural release of Benoit’s single vineyard, Le Parc from the 2011 vintage. Le Parc is a wonderfully positioned vineyard just above the village of Ambonnay. Krug’s famous Clos de Ambonnay is situated within the original Le Parc vineyard, which actually used to be the gardens of a famous Chateau that sat above the village. It’s just down slope from Selosse’s Le Bout du Clos lieu-dit. This vineyard is planted to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but in the 2011 vintage, Benoit decided to make a 100% Chardonnay Le Parc bottling. He made just under 2k bottles of this blanc de blancs. It was disgorged March 2016 at zero grams dosage.
MARGUET PERE ET FILS – ROSE CHAMPAGNE, AMBONNAY GRAND CRU EXTRA BRUT (2010 Base) NV
5 MAGNUMS AVAILABLE
A very rare magnum rosé bottling that is comprised of 87 percent of the 2010 vintage and the rest being reserve wines from Benoit’s solera he started in 2004. I saw that Gilman tasted this magnum from a May 2013 disgorgement, and this is the same wine, just with more time sur latte. The mags we have were disgorged October 2015. We don’t know how many of these were made, but what a remarkable rosé to drink now or enjoy over the coming decade. I tasted this alongside Selosse rosé a few weekends ago, and it stood its ground. Not quite as serious as Selosse’s, but equally delicious and a magnum that we drank in less than 20 minutes!
Marguet Pere et Fils – Champagne, La Grande Ruelle, Grand Cru Ambonnay 2011
15 BOTTLES AVAILABLE
The inaugural release of Benoit’s single vineyard, La Grande Ruelle from the 2011 vintage. La Grande Ruelle is another single vineyard that lies just to the south of Le Parc surrounding the village of Ambonnay. Here there’s more clay topsoil, so Pinot Noir is the cépage of choice. Benoit made a Blanc de Noirs from La Grande Ruelle in 2011 and hit it out of the park! This is the best vintage wine I’ve tasted anywhere in Champagne from the 2011 vintage. A stunning example of Grand Cru Ambonnay Pinot Noir – particularly vinous and so fine that it feels like Chardonnay. If you skip all the other wines in this offer, take the plunge on this guy at least. You won’t be disappointed.
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us | Unsubscribe
©2017 Manhattan Wine Company All Rights Reserved.
You’ve received this message because you’ve opted to receive communications from Manhattan Wine Company.
NYC Store: 606A West 28th Street NY, NY 10001 (646) 712-8200