Benoit Dehu
Meunier typically plays a supporting role in Champagne, blended in to add smoothness to the wine, but its name is rarely listed on the label. Benoît Déhu has built his own brand around this variety. Based in Fossoy, located on the western edge of Vallée de la Marne, he cultivates a single, fenced-in plot using biodynamic farming methods, partly plowing with horses, and ferments all his wines in oak barrels rather than stainless steel tanks.
He is an eighth-generation winemaker in his family and worked at Bollinger before returning to his hometown. His current production is intentionally limited to small quantities, consisting of the single-parcel, single-varietal Champagnes Brut Nature bottled wine and the still wine Coteaux Champenois, produced from the same vines.
From Bollinger back to Fossoy
The Déhu family has been making wine in Fossoy for a long time. The family's winery, Déhu Père et Fils, was founded in 1787, two years before the French Revolution, and has been run by the family ever since.
Benoît Déhu is the eighth-generation heir. Before inheriting this winery, he worked at Champagne Bollinger, and his experience there had a decisive influence on the direction he wanted to take at home: establishing natural farming methods, oak barrel fermentation, and a production style far more focused than that of a typical family-owned négociant-style winery.
Because Déhu Père and Fils already had a solid foundation in place, he was able to do both. He manages the family's vineyards and, since 2011, has been producing his own wines under the name Champagne Benoît Déhu. This dual structure tells the whole story of this place. On one side is an old commercial wine house, and on the other, a small-scale, lovingly tended project, the two coexisting side by side.
The vineyards
The family owns a vineyard of approximately 10 hectares in the Marne region. In 2011, Benoit Déhu fenced off a 1.70-hectare section called La Rue des Noyers and began cultivating it using biodynamic farming methods, separate from the rest of the vineyard.
Of this area, 0.40 hectares are cultivated using horses instead of tractors. This is not a marketing ploy, but a practical measure taken on a small plot. Déhu planted Pinot Noir via the massale selection method.
Meunier first, Pinot Noir second
The grapes used in the Champagne of Benoît Déhu are:
- Meunier is derived from La Rue des Noyers. This variety accounts for 100% of the production in this plot, including both sparkling and still wines.
- Pinot Noir: Produced in the clay-sand mixed area at the bottom of the slope and cultivated using the Massalé selection method. L'Orme is made from 100% Pinot Noir.
By producing Champagne, White Coteaux Champenois, and Red Coteaux Champenois from the same plot and the same variety, Déhu is able to capture the three distinct characteristics of a single variety from a single vineyard.
Winemaking
All grapes are fermented with natural yeast and aged in oak barrels. There is no stainless steel used as a shortcut, and no cultured yeast.
His method of sourcing oak barrels is unusual even by Grower-Champagne standards. Initially, wood was sourced from the nearby Fossoy forest. Since 2013, Déhu has been using wood he owns in Meilleray, sending it to a cooper in Champagne to be made into barrels. Champagne wines are bottled using the brut nature method, which means no sugar is added during the disgorgement process; thus, the wine reaches the consumer with the same dryness it had upon completion of aging.
Furthermore, these wines are produced in small quantities, made from a single plot and often from a single vintage. This is a deliberate choice.
The wines
La Rue des Noyers Blanc de Noirs Brut Nature is the wine that started it all, named after this vineyard. It is made from a single vineyard, a single grape variety, and fermented in oak barrels.
Initiation Brut Nature was released alongside L'Orme Brut Nature as part of the 2015 vintage. Initiation blends Meunier with the young Pinot Noir, while L'Orme is a wine bottled as pure Pinot Noir. La Pythie Brut Nature completes the sparkling wine lineup.
In addition, Benoît Déhu produces a rosé de saignée made from La Rue des Noyers, as well as two still wines, one white and one red, from the same vineyard, collectively known as Coteaux Champenois.
Red and white still wines produced from Meunier are rare throughout the Champagne region, and they serve as the clearest example of the characteristics this vineyard exhibits when the wine is still.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Benoît Déhu based?
In Fossoy, at the western end of the Vallée de la Marne in Champagne.
Is Champagne Benoît Déhu the same as Déhu Père et Fils?
No. Déhu Père et Fils is the family house, founded in 1787. Benoît Déhu runs it, and since 2011 he also makes his own wines under a separate label from a parcel he farms apart.
Are the wines biodynamic?
The 1.70 hectares he set aside are farmed biodynamically, with part of the ploughing done by horse, and the wines are fermented with natural yeast.
What does brut nature mean on these labels?
No dosage. Nothing sweet is added after disgorgement, so the finished Champagne is bone dry.
