Champagne Marteaux Guillaume Esprit Terroir Brut Nature NV

Marteaux Guillaume follows the lead of the seasons and the moon, and speaks of his vines as though they are his dear friends. If they’re stressed or overworked, he offers them hand-crafted natural elixirs to heal. He listens to and observes them with painstaking precision in order to understand the best time for harvest.

We’ve shared before that when our team toured his property – cobbling together communications between our non-existent French and his limited English – Guillaume showed us his apothecary, where he stores foraged roots, dried herbs, and minerals. These were to be turned into tinctures for the individual needs of his vines, rather than applying chemical treatments that other producers might employ to stave off infection or insects. His practices toe the line between standard natural winemaking processes and some kind of vinous wizardry – though, the results firmly showcase that whatever he’s doing, it’s undoubtedly working.

The village of Bonneil is virtually flat and runs along the right bank of the Marne River, though the vineyards hug its edges on a steep slope that horseshoes around the village to the other side of the river. The vines thrive atop clay-silt, clay-limestone, marl, and clay soils with a vein of sand crossing the top, providing a diverse foundation for the grapes to flourish and develop rich complexities, spices, and minerality. This “Esprit Terroir” (or “spirit of the terroir”) was crafted to showcase this land – with 0 grams of dosage added, allowing the natural sugar remaining after fermentation to do all of the balancing legwork, resulting in a splendidly crisp, ultra-whip-dry Champagne.

A cepage of 50% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Meunier fill out the blend – creating a tightly balanced yet wonderfully expansive expression of Champagne. Disgorged in March 2022, the wine sat on the lees for 6 years to integrate and soften, though it is in no way mild-mannered or subdued. Exotic spices like saffron and truffle, plus baked apples, pear compote, toasty oak, and a chalky mineral sensation like crushed oyster shells fossilized inside a Jurassic-era rock combine to make this rich, full, and wickedly complex, with an intensity of acidity and brightness to complement the lightly oxidative style.

Just over 3,000 bottles of this flagship cuvee were made – and we are thrilled to have gotten even a small handful of those! There’s good reason we remain some of Marteaux’s most loyal and unabashed fans… his wines are just SO fantastic and adventurous to experience. 98 POINTS on this! If you can swing it, get your hands on a few, because we have a strong feeling you’ll want to revisit it again and again. Deliciousness at its finest… but not nearly as much as we would like!