Marc Hébrart, Special Club Millésimé 1er Cru Brut, Champagne, France, 2019

Overview of the Wine
Jean-Paul Hébrart took over the operations of Marc Hébrart Champagne in the Vallée de la Marne from his father Marc in 1997. This estate is not exactly new: Jean-Paul’s father has been producing champagne under the Marc Hébrart name since 1964 and has been a member of the Special Club since 1985. Hébrart farms 14 hectares of vines on 65 different sites in 6 villages: the 1er cru vineyards of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay, Val d’Or and Bisseuil and the grand crus villages of Aÿ as well as Chouilly and Oiry in the Côte des Blancs. Each parcel is always vinified separately in glass lined stainless steel and ceramic tanks. He is slowly phasing out the ceramic as it is more difficult to control the temperature. Hébrart is also experimenting with barrel fermentation and indigenous yeast fermentation for some of his older vine parcels.

Grape / Blend
61% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay

Origin
Vallee de la Marne, Champagne, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
The 2019 vintage is shaping up to be a great one, and though the vintage had its challenges cutting yields via sunburn and hail, the remaining fruit was of great quality and was able to retain acidity and freshness, showing Excellent ripeness with good concentration while aromatically expressive and energetic. This vintage plays right into the style of this special club and is a bottle made to be intense, powerful, dense, and concentrated, with superb balance and complexity that seems to like a few years in the bottle before being opened.

94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck
A silver/straw hue, the 2019 Champagne Special Club Brut is a very pretty wine made from 60% Pinot Noir and the rest Chardonnay, all originating from the Premier and Grand Cru villages of Louvois, Chouilly, and Mareuil-sur-Ay. Revealing aromas of sea spray, pure ripe raspberry, and fresh flowers, it moves seamlessly to the palate, where it offers a refined mousse with an approachable feel, its crystalline fruit shining through to a clean and graceful finish. A very attractive wine, it’s showing beautifully now and should hold up nicely over the coming 8-10 years.

94 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

92 Points - Vinous

Product size: 750ml