robert moncuit
Pierre Amillet
Les Mesnil-sur-Oger
Côtes des Blancs - Champagne
story…
For five generations the family-run Moncuit estate has been farming grapes for the production of wine in Champagne in Les Mesnil-sur-Oger beginning with Alex Moncuit in 1889. In 1928 Robert Moncuit, Alex’s grandson, created the first cuvée and estate bottled champagne. In 1987 Robert’s daughter Francoise took over the estate after the passing of her father, she passed the reins onto her son Pierre Amillet in 2000, Pierre remains at the helm today.
farming & philosophy…
The estate consists of 8 hectares of vines in the Le Mesnil-sur-Oger region of the Côte des Blancs, all of which are farmed without the use of pesticides or herbicides. Fruit is all hand harvested and hand sorted, and each parcel of vines is vinified separately to optimize the outcome of the blending.
Nearly all the wines are fermented and raised in a combination of tank and oak, ultimately the goal is extended contact with the lees and to preserve the precision and minerality that Mesnil is capable of. Pierre likes to use both 228L and 350L barrels and prefers the wines to age slowly; once in barrel the wine sits undisturbed on the lees until early summer. All wines go through full malolactic naturally.
Vineyards…
Of the 8 hectares of vines that Pierre works with their are two plots that are more prized than others; Les Vozémieux & Les Chétillons.
Les Vozémeiux
The domaine currently holds a 1.5 hectares in the village of Oger, 66 acres of that are in the climat of Les Vozémieux with vines planted in 1955. The 2010 vintage was the first time Pierre bottled Les Vozémieux on its own, he wanted to see how it would compare as a single vineyard wine with his Les Chétillons bottling. His parcel of Les Chétillons is a mere 500 meters away but is a south facing site, where Les Vozémieux is a north facing site.
Les Chétillons
The domaine is one of the fortunate few to have holdings in the 40 hectare climat of Les Chétillons in the village of Mesnil. They hold five different parcels across the climat totaling two hectares of vines, with the oldest parcels of vines having been planted in 1956.
