Irizée – the name sounds like a promise. Iridescent, multi-layered, luminous. Champagne Régis Poissinet from Cuchery in the Marne Valley turns Pinot Meunier not into a stopgap, but into a declaration of love. Where others treat this grape variety as a rustic gap-filler, Régis Poissinet shows that Meunier can mature into one of the most elegant and longest-lived Champagnes.
The family estate has been working biodynamically since 2011. Seven hectares spread across 35 plots with vines averaging 33 years of age. No herbicides, no insecticides – instead, their own compost and a vineyard where fauna and flora find their own balance. The dosage? Minimal. Between 1.7 and 3.5 grams per litre. Anyone looking for sweetness here will not find it. Those seeking precision, tension and pure terroir expression are in exactly the right place.
More about Régis Poissinet
Meunier as the leading actor
In Champagne, an unspoken hierarchy often prevails: Chardonnay for finesse, Pinot Noir for structure, Pinot Meunier for… the rest. Régis Poissinet turns this order on its head. The Cuvée Irizée Meunier proves that this underestimated grape variety is capable of producing Champagnes of exceptional depth and ageing potential. Fruity, yet never clumsy. Structured, yet never heavy. After years on the lees, notes of brioche, white pepper and candied citrus fruits develop.
35 plots, a mosaic of terroirs
The 7 hectares are spread across 35 plots around the villages of Cuchery, Baslieux, Leuvrigny, Troissy and Mareuil-le-Port. Clay-limestone and alluvial calcareous marl characterise the soils – ideal for wines with a mineral backbone. The blend Terre d'Irizée unites all three Champagne grape varieties and shows just how complex a non-vintage Champagne can taste when each plot is vinified individually before being composed.
Unlike at neighbouring Tarlant in Oeuilly, Poissinet’s focus lies less on historic single vineyards than on the overall biodynamic concept: the vines are meant to grow in balance with their surroundings, supported by home-made compost from animal and plant residues.
Biodynamics since 2011
When Régis took over the estate, a quiet revolution began. First the herbicides disappeared, then all other synthetic interventions. Today, bees hum between the rows of vines, grasses and wildflowers form a living mulch layer, and microorganisms in the soil promote the exchange between roots and terroir. You can taste the result: the Champagnes possess a vibrant energy, a cutting linearity that combines with a creamy yeast note.
Extra Brut: purism in the glass
The dosage lies between 1.7 and 3.5 grams of sugar per litre – far below what most Champagne houses use. This restraint demands flawless base wines. The Cuvée Irizée Chardonnay reveals what a single-varietal Blanc de Blancs from the Marne is capable of: chalk, green apple, lemon zest, underpinned by an almost salty minerality. No sugar to distract. Just wine, yeast, time.
The next generation is ready: son Maxime is already working alongside him in the vineyard. The Irizée story continues – as shimmering as ever.