First taste: Champagne Henriot Cuvée Hemera 2006

Champagne Henriot to me always embodies the ideals of crystalline purity, focus and precision. Indeed when the new chef de caves, Alice Tétienne, was asked to describe the style of the wines, she used three words: ‘precision’, ‘luminosity’ and ‘virtuosity’. What is more, the deluxe cuvée Hemera has been created precisely to reflect these virtues.

When the late Joseph Henriot decided to abandon the existing prestige cuvée, Les Echanteleurs, he did so because he felt that its style was too far removed from the house signature. And so, with the 2005 vintage, Cuvée Hemera was born. Hemera was (and probably still is) the Greek goddess of daylight and therefore of luminosity. The current boss, Giles de Larouzière, nephew of Joseph and representative of the eighth generation of the Henriot dynasty, adds, somewhat bathetically, that Hemera is easier to say than Echanteleurs, especially in the Far East. I’m not so sure about that, but there is little doubting the purity of the wine and its dazzling clarity of expression.

Terroir in the DNA

Tétienne joined in 2020, only to win the coveted ‘Cellarmaster of the Year’ prize a few weeks later. She had previously worked at Krug, Laurent Perrier and Nicolas Feuillatte, and joins an increasing number of superbly talented younger female winemakers in Champagne – Julie Cavil at Krug and Séverine Frerson at Perrier Jouët two others who come to mind immediately. A Champenois by birth, Tétienne says that ‘terroir’ is in her DNA and that her key goal is to develop and maintain relationships with the growers and thus to focus on the essential work in the vines. Thereby she upholds the commendable traditions of her predecessor, Laurent Fresnet, especially important as Henriot work with no fewer than 73 different growers.

The Hemera is a blend in equal parts of grand cru Pinot Noir from three villages in the Montage de Reims and grand cru Chardonnay from the Côte des Blancs. Tétienne outlines how each village plays its part: Verzy giving structure, Verzenay elegance and Mailly power and aromatics to the Pinot Noir. In terms of the Chardonnay, Chouilly adds roundness and a generous and even exotic character; Avize provides the backbone and freshness, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger… well that is the light, the eponymous luminosity!

Despite the rather tricky conditions of 2006 (three months of rain in the space of 15 days in August threatened rot and mildew at one point), all ended well with perfect sunshine for the harvest. The wine was blended in tank for a year longer than usual, bottled in 2008 and disgorged in late 2019. Plenty of time for the integration of the fruits of the sextet of villages. Giles is somewhat reticent on the subject of dosage (it only takes 30 seconds, he says, somewhat disingenuously), but ultimately reveals that somewhere in the region of 8g/L of sugar has been added. Well judged it seems; the goddess of light dazzles with great purity with this, only her second outing!

Simon Field MW reviews Cuvée Hemera 2006

See also:

The women of Champagne