Histoire de Famille (2022)

Histoire de Famille is the house's all-Meunier cuvée, drawn from Damery, Vandières and Verneuil - three communes of the Vallée de la Marne Rive Droite where Meunier is the dominant planting. Per the Union des Maisons de Champagne, Verneuil is 255 of 356 hectares Meunier, Vandières 170 of 239, Damery 250 of 416.

This release is built on the 2022 harvest (75%) topped up with 25% from the estate's perpetual reserve, a solera running from 2005 through 2021. The producer's fiche technique for the cuvée gives stainless steel and a light filtration before tirage; the back label confirms malolactic non recherchée, a house rule since the 2012 vintage. Bottled April 2023 and disgorged August 2024, so roughly 16 months on lattes; the producer's fiche technique for the cuvée specifies 30 months and disgorgement three to six months before release, so this bottle left the cellar early against the house spec. Dosage 5 g/L, 12% abv.

The back label calls this one Brut, while the 2023-base release carries Extra-Brut at the identical 5 g/L. Both readings sit inside the extra-brut band, so the Brut designation here is the conservative call rather than a change in dosage. A demi-sec version of the same cuvée is dosed at 32 g/L.

2022 was a solar vintage in Champagne: a hot, dry summer that the region came through better than most of France, thanks to well-timed rain at the start of August that refreshed vines and fruit. Picking began on 20 August in the earliest crus, unusually early even by recent standards, and the fruit came in healthy, with sugar and aromatic ripeness above average and generous volume behind it.