NV Pehu-Simonet "Face Nord" Brut, Champagne, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This blend of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay is from Montagne de Reims in Champagne. The grapes come from some of the very best Pinot Noir village sites: Verzenay Grand Cru, Verzy Grand Cru, and Sillery Grand Cru. Pino Noir from these areas are known for being structured and powerful. The chardonnay added helps to elevate and lift the wine for an exquisite finish. The blend is 70% from 2017 and 30% reserve wine (perpetual reserve back to 2005). Pehu does not allow malo on this wine which gives a crisp and bright finish. 80% of wine is aged in stainless steel tank and 20% in barrique to add depth. The wine is then aged much longer than the minimum for NV. It sees 30 months on lees to add extensive creamy texture and complexity.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER
David Pehu, the fourth generation to lead this estate produces wines that are quite different from Lallement’s in every way except basic essential flavor. Verzenay is, after all, Verzenay. But David’s wines are rather more glossy and fleshy, and correspondingly less sleek and filigreed. He has 7.5 hectares of which 6 are Grand Cru. The balance is Chardonnay in premier cru Villers-Marmery, but Pehu wants to bottle only Grand Cru Champagne and so this Chardonnay is sold off. His vineyards are a remarkably ecumenical group: Verzy, Verzenay, Mailly, Sillery and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger!

The terrain of Verzy is made up of belemnite chalk and two varieties of micraster chalk, made up of a variety of Cretaceous echinoids. Verzy’s parcels form an extension of the famous vineyards at Verzenay on the northern slopes of Montagne de Reims. The best exposed slopes are those at an altitude from 150 to 200 meters (492 to 565 ft.). Oddly enough, Verzy was formerly a chardonnay village. It is today famous for its peppery, virile Pinot wines. With those of Verzenay, the pinot noir grapes here form the base for the finest Champagne vintages. A stony and gunpowder edge can be detected in the aftertaste, just as at Verzenay.