HENRIET-BAZIN

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The terroir enthusiastic geologist!

Champagne Henriet was founded in 1890 by Gaston Henriet in Villers-Marmery, on the northeast flank of the Montage de Reims. At that time it was still common to sell the majority of the grapes to large champagne houses. His son Robert expanded his ambitions and already used almost half of the harvest to make his own champagne. Like his father, Daniel also dedicated his life to grapevines and wine and in 1968, by marrying Micheline Bazin, a winemaker from Villers-Marmery, united the terroirs of both families into Champagne Henriet-Bazin. At that time, there were already 6 hectares of vines (35 plots), which were classified as Grand Cru and Premier Cru and distributed between Verzenay and Verzy (Grand Cru) and Villers-Marmery (Premier Cru).

The fourth generation of the domain is now managed by Marie-Noelle and Nicolas Henriet-Bazin, who was able to convince his father to vinify the entire harvest. In addition, he bought 1.75 hectares of vineyards in the villages of Faverolles & Coëmy in the Ardre Valley, which enabled him to expand the existing range of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to include Meunier.

With it, the appearance of the vineyards has changed, gradually plowing and grassing has been introduced on all 36 plots. The switch to organic farming began a few years ago and Nicolas is thrilled to see that the more he does for his plots, the more the vines give him back. There are also preventive work at night to protect the vines and use less water.

Because of the passion for the terroir, each parcel is vinified individually. Thanks to gravitation, pumps are dispensed with during pressing, and a slow clarification process makes filtration unnecessary. By resting for a long time on its own sediments when maturing in enamel vats, the wine shows the complexity, balance and elegance of the plots from which it comes.

Marie-Noelle is responsible for the assemblages, her passion is to combine the different locations, plots, grape varieties and vintages in such a way that unique terroir cuvées are created. Reserve wines up to 50 years old are used!

Facts: R.M., Villers-Marmery, Montagne de Reims, 7,75 ha, 35% Pinot Noir, 42,5% Chardonnay, 22,5% Meunier, 60.000 Bottles/Year

Henriet-Bazin Gazette download HERE