The daring dynamos of Champagne's Montagne de Reims

Across Champagne, the signs of what the French call la transmission – the handing down of family expertise – is underway.

Driving through the village of Louvois on the way to the more famous grands crus of Bouzy and Ambonnay, the pale stone frontage of Champagne Guy Méa flashes by.

Stop by to meet Franck and Sophie Moussié, though, and the bottles that greet you are now labelled Domaine Méa.

This is a common signal: showing that new hands are at work in this family enterprise that is split between some of the lesser-known crus of the Montagne de Reims in Champagne’s heartland.

They might be new hands, but they’re not necessarily complete revolutions.

‘Five generations of Méa have worked here,’ says Franck. The 2014 and 2015 vintages were made in conjunction with the whole family.

Then 2016 – the vintage where Franck and Sophie abandoned herbicides and pesticides and started their journey toward organic certification – was the first they made alone.

New hands, small changes

There’s a little less of a sense of rebellion or counter-culture among the next generation of vignerons of the Montagne de Reims compared to those of the Marne Valley or Côte des Bar, where history and prestige weigh less heavily on the shoulders of the wines.

In the Montagne de Reims, you’ll find fewer obvious signs of a ‘natural wine aesthetic’ (even though almost all of the young growers are veering toward organic and low-intervention practices).

There are also fewer ultra-modern labels, and fewer off-piste wine styles.

The fruit that comes from these villages hardly needs playing around with, though, and the young vignerons know it.

Take the grand cru village of Verzy, where Adrien Renoir is turning heads with his ultra-precise, direct and transparent Champagnes.

‘It’s the restraint, the salinity and the length that marks Verzy out,’ Renoir says as we taste through an expansive lineup of wines that includes a number of single-vineyard expressions.

Bold and rich styles have a place too

There’s no doubt that family holdings in these northern grand cru villages are the jackpot for any new vigneron.

Among those reaping the rewards is also Matthieu Godmé-Guillaume, who’s taking over and re-shaping his mother’s domaine (Champagne Sabine Godmé) in neighbouring Verzenay with a series of wines from the north face that embody a slightly bolder, richer winemaking style.

Even if most of the growers in the well-known grand cru villages keep an eye on the classics, there are two names in slightly lesser-known parts of the Montagne ready to elevate their sub-zones with one aesthetic – 100% oak fermentation.

Edouard Carré of Carré Frères promises to be the most significant new grower voice in the eastern Montagne de Reims Chardonnay villages since David Léclapart.

Carré is working with the deeper Chardonnay styles found here, as well as partial new oak fermentation, to yield a style of almost Burgundian aromatic richness.

Carré is keen to build a style of his own and not follow the crowd: ‘I didn’t do an internship at Sélosse, I don’t have a model…I just make my wines the way I like,’ he says.

Stick to your own identity

On the other side of the Montagne, Thomas Herbert and Marie-Charlotte Mignucci are finding their feet after steering the family domaine, Didier Herbert, in a markedly different direction (as Herbert & Co) with a smaller production, all-oak fermentation and strikingly unusual branding.

It hasn’t been without its bumps in the road, but like Carré, Herbert feels that the abundance of new growers in Champagne means you must stick to your own identity.

‘A lot of the young generation want to make a change from their parents...but we all have the same recipe, we’re all trying to make the same thing!’ he laughs.

Even if it has been a little slower than other parts of Champagne, the qualities that have made the Montagne de Reims the heart of Champagne’s grand cru terroir are speaking loudly through the next generation as they hone their styles.

They are all well worth discovering.

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