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2.5 hectares. One parcel. One man. In Villers-aux-Nœuds, Emmanuel Brochet crafts Champagnes that are as unique as their creator: artist, vintage car racer, self-taught winemaker. In 1997, he took over the family land and stopped selling the grapes. Since then, he has been making his own wines – biodynamic, by hand, unfiltered. His "Le Mont Benoît" is considered by connoisseurs to be one of the most distinctive Champagnes of the Montagne de Reims.
More about Emmanuel Brochet
The autodidact
When Emmanuel Brochet took over the family estate in Villers-aux-Nœuds in 1997, he was a first-generation winemaker. No oenology studies, no years of training with others - he taught himself everything. He worked without chemicals for ten years before gaining organic certification in 2011. Today he manages biodynamic on his 2.5 hectares Premier Cru, all located on a single plot of land: the Lieu-dit Le Mont Benoît.
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One mountain, three grape varieties
The slope of Le Mont Benoît is divided into two zones: At the top are the oldest vines, planted 1962, The younger ones from 1984 in between: Chalk, clay, silt - and in equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Everything is harvested by hand, fermented with wild yeasts and matured for eleven months in used barriques. No filtration, minimal dosage, little sulphur. This is how 7,000 to 11,000 bottles per year.
Terroir champagne from the Montagne de Reims
Villers-aux-Nœuds would hardly be known without Brochet - the village is away from the big names. But it is precisely here, in the Petite Montagne, that some of the region's most distinctive champagnes are produced. Lacourte-Godbillon in nearby Écueil follows a similar philosophy: terroir before technique, manual labour before mass production. Those who discover this corner of Champagne will find wines with character - far removed from the standardised style of the big houses.