Marc Hébrart
Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes Mareuil Sur Ay Champagne Blend
Mareuil-Sur-Aÿ, Vallée de la Marne, Champagne, France
Nose is vinous (Chardonnay) very balanced with super fine bubbles. Creamy and slightly sweet (in a good way) cloying finish. Absolutely beautiful!75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay Bottled 4/2015, disgorged May 6, 2020. WHW
Nose is vinous (Chardonnay) very balanced with super fine bubbles. Creamy and slightly sweet (in a good way) cloying finish. Absolutely beautiful!75% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay Bottled 4/2015, disgorged May 6, 2020. WHW
Jul 12th, 2021
I’ve started to enjoy Marc Herbrart Champagne’s in the last six months. There are just over 20,000 grower producers in Champagne…hard to try them all in many lifetimes. Basically, impossible. I picked up some of his 2019 Blanc de Noirs today on Last Bubbles for $79…used a coupon and got the free ship. I bought two of these at Costco last weekend for $56.99. Had a glass at the end of last Friday night w/ friends. Enjoyed it, but wanted to taste it and write notes with a clean palate.
This lives up to that price point and slightly exceeds it. 91.5 rounding up to 92.
The nose has a sour Lemonhead candy quality (that’s a 1st time wine descriptor for me), white stone fruits-peach, nectarine, lime zest, cream, honeydew, brioche, saline, chalk, sea fossils, ginger, hues of ginger ale, white Spring flowers with greens.
The palate shows nice mousse…crisp. It leans into reductive but flashes some oxidative quality. White stone fruits-peach, nectarine, Meyer lemon, lime zest, lychees, Rainer cherries, some apple cider, bruised Bosc pear, cream, honeydew, pineapple juice, brioche, some caramel saline, gritty chalk-limestone-volcanics minerals, sea fossils, white spice-ginger with some palate punch, ginger ale notes, jasmine, white Spring flowers with greens with a well balanced, knitted, polished and elegant finish that lands dead smack on minerality and lasts two-minutes.
One thing I have been meaning to bring into the light with a post on Champagnes in general but haven’t yet is, I studied the hell out of French Wine Winemaking Laws. Perhaps, the strictest or at least one of the most restrictive in the world…growing, labeling, certain varietals for certain wines. Basically 3 grapes are primarily used in Champagne but 7 are allowed; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier are the primary ones and Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are the ancillary ones. 5 grapes only in Bordeaux blends and you cannot irrigate there either. You get what the season gives you. Having said all that, there seems to be some allowed leeway in Champagne labeling…Extra Brut, Brut and Demi-Sec etc.. Nature is 0 to 3g, Extra Brut is 3 to 6g and Brut is 6-9g etc. This Marc Herbrart is 5.5g, which technically makes it Extra Brut. Yet it’s labeled Brut. I see this all the time. I regularly see champagnes labeled Brut that are 10-11g or more. So, if you care about the sweetness level of your Champagne, you should probably read up on the champagne you’re about to buy. Given how strict French Wine Laws are, I find this a little baffling.
This Marc Hebrart received its cork March 2, 2023 and as I mentioned, its dosage is 5.5g.
Photos of; Champagne House-Marc Herbrart, the man himself-Marc Herbrart, perfect vineyard Chardonnay grapes & vista of their vineyard(s). What rows!!!
I’ve started to enjoy Marc Herbrart Champagne’s in the last six months. There are just over 20,000 grower producers in Champagne…hard to try them all in many lifetimes. Basically, impossible. I picked up some of his 2019 Blanc de Noirs today on Last Bubbles for $79…used a coupon and got the free ship. I bought two of these at Costco last weekend for $56.99. Had a glass at the end of last Friday night w/ friends. Enjoyed it, but wanted to taste it and write notes with a clean palate.
This lives up to that price point and slightly exceeds it. 91.5 rounding up to 92.
The nose has a sour Lemonhead candy quality (that’s a 1st time wine descriptor for me), white stone fruits-peach, nectarine, lime zest, cream, honeydew, brioche, saline, chalk, sea fossils, ginger, hues of ginger ale, white Spring flowers with greens.
The palate shows nice mousse…crisp. It leans into reductive but flashes some oxidative quality. White stone fruits-peach, nectarine, Meyer lemon, lime zest, lychees, Rainer cherries, some apple cider, bruised Bosc pear, cream, honeydew, pineapple juice, brioche, some caramel saline, gritty chalk-limestone-volcanics minerals, sea fossils, white spice-ginger with some palate punch, ginger ale notes, jasmine, white Spring flowers with greens with a well balanced, knitted, polished and elegant finish that lands dead smack on minerality and lasts two-minutes.
One thing I have been meaning to bring into the light with a post on Champagnes in general but haven’t yet is, I studied the hell out of French Wine Winemaking Laws. Perhaps, the strictest or at least one of the most restrictive in the world…growing, labeling, certain varietals for certain wines. Basically 3 grapes are primarily used in Champagne but 7 are allowed; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay & Pinot Meunier are the primary ones and Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris are the ancillary ones. 5 grapes only in Bordeaux blends and you cannot irrigate there either. You get what the season gives you. Having said all that, there seems to be some allowed leeway in Champagne labeling…Extra Brut, Brut and Demi-Sec etc.. Nature is 0 to 3g, Extra Brut is 3 to 6g and Brut is 6-9g etc. This Marc Herbrart is 5.5g, which technically makes it Extra Brut. Yet it’s labeled Brut. I see this all the time. I regularly see champagnes labeled Brut that are 10-11g or more. So, if you care about the sweetness level of your Champagne, you should probably read up on the champagne you’re about to buy. Given how strict French Wine Laws are, I find this a little baffling.
This Marc Hebrart received its cork March 2, 2023 and as I mentioned, its dosage is 5.5g.
Photos of; Champagne House-Marc Herbrart, the man himself-Marc Herbrart, perfect vineyard Chardonnay grapes & vista of their vineyard(s). What rows!!!
Appreciate both blend and match with Xmas duck. 24/12-2023
Appreciate both blend and match with Xmas duck. 24/12-2023
Dec 24th, 2023
Excellent champagne, brioche, medium size bubbles, less acidic warmed up
Excellent champagne, brioche, medium size bubbles, less acidic warmed up
Oct 22nd, 2023
Bright acids, fantastic mousse, long finish, very nice!
Bright acids, fantastic mousse, long finish, very nice!
Mar 21st, 2021
Linear: citrus, great acidity, big note of poached pear. Electric.
Linear: citrus, great acidity, big note of poached pear. Electric.
Jan 1st, 2021