Dehours & Fils Terre de Meunier NV Extra Brut
Dehours & Fils Terre de Meunier NV Extra Brut – alternate view 2
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Dehours & Fils Terre de Meunier NV Extra Brut

Dehours & Fils
$72.00

Grape: Pinot Meunier
Vintage: NV
Type: Sparkling

This red grape sparkling wine is a pure varietal bottling of pinot meunier blended from selected vineyards in Mareuil-le-Port, Troissy, and Oeuilly. Winemaker Jérôme Dehours utilizes a low proportion of reserve wine to maintain a pure, vintage- vibrancy across the base blend. The winemaking incorporates a perpetual reserve system initiated in 1998 to ground the regional identity without heavy cellar modifications. It undergoes a native fermentation and is disgorged as an Extra Brut with a minimal dosage.

It pours a pale straw color, releasing a bold nose of fresh orchard fruit, citrus rind, and dried wildflowers. On the palate, the medium-bodied frame is racy and energetic, pairing yellow pear flavors with a vein of mineral salinity. A sharp wave of natural acidity cuts directly through the textured mouthfeel, keeping it lively. The light extraction provides a gentle structural grip that frames the clean, dry finish.

Jérôme Dehours took over the domaine in 1999 and started a conversion to organic viticulture, which is now complete. The domaine consists of 42 parcels, all within close reach of the winery. Dehours was the first producer in Champagne to offer “vins parcellaires” emanating from their lieux dits – a now commonplace practice. Total production is typically 70 -80,000 bottles a year, all of which are held back for an above-average period before release.

The wines are not filtered or fined, all enjoy a passage through wood, and they go through malolactic fermentation naturally in the spring. The yeasts used are indigenous, but Dehours makes their own cocktail of the best. Jérôme likes to employ the tailles, so often sold off by other producers, feeling that they impart useful and attractive qualities to the finished wines. The wines are fully aged on lees, and clarified by natural decanting, without filtration or fining.