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Pierre Moncuit

Pierre Moncuit, ably assisted by his wife, Odile Moncuit-Delos, established his little Champagne house in Mesnil-sur-Oger, at the heart of the Chardonnay dominated Côte des Blancs, in 1889. Mesnil-sur-Oger has a reputation as one of the finest Grand Cru villages in this important region of the Champagne vineyard, and it could be argued that Pierre Moncuit is one of the leading growers situated here. They are, of course, in illustrious company; the fruit of Mesnil-sur-Oger gives rise to Salon's Le Mesnil cuvée, and Krug's highly sought-after single vineyard Clos du Mesnil.

The Pierre Moncuit estate, now comprising about 25 hectares of vineyards all planted to Chardonnay, has been under the direction of Nicole Moncuit since 1977. Keeping it in the family, Yves Moncuit looks after the commercial aspect of the business. Nicole tends 20 hectares close to in Mesnil, although there are a further 5 hectares planted in Sezanne, and a noteworthy plot of old vines, reaching the stately age of 90 years, in the Chetillons vineyard. Of note is that all the wines produced here are the product of a single vintage, even those that declare themselves to be non-vintage; there is no blending in of reserve wines. The roll-call of cuvées are largely created by selection in the cellar by Nicole, which makes it difficult to identify what distinguishes one wine from another, other than elements of style on tasting. Nevertheless, they are as follows:

• Cuvée Hugues de Coulmet Blanc des Blancs: includes some wine from Sézanne.
• Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos Grand Cru Blanc des Blancs
• Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc des Blancs
• Cuvée Millésimée Grand Cru Blanc des Blancs
• Rosé Grand Cru: an assemblage of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir from Ambonnay.

My first foray into the wines of Nicole and Yves Moncuit has been a brief one, with just two cuvées sampled in the past year (in truth there were others, such as the Cuvée Hugues de Coulmet, but I appear to have lost my tasting notes). I tasted the non-vintage (I do find this practice of labelling what are vintage wines as non-vintage to be rather strange) and vintage wines, which might be regarded as the two grander cuvées in the portfolio, and the quality of both wines was plainly evident on tasting; Pierre Moncuit is a name, I suspect, which one can purchase with confidence....although I do wonder what happens to the quality of the "single-vintage non-vintage" (a new term I have just invented) wines in washout years such as 2001. Whatever the answer, this won't be my last tasting of wines from this house I am sure. (2/5/06)

Contact details:
Address: 11, rue Persault Maheu, 51190 Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
Telephone: +33 (0) 3 26 57 52 65
Fax: +33 (0) 3 26 57 97 89
Internet: www.pierre-moncuit.fr

Pierre Moncuit - Tasting Notes

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Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 2000: This is gorgeously expressive, with honey-roasted cashew nuts, peach and citrus fruits on the nose, followed by beeswax and lanolin. What character! The palate is also lovely, elegant yet evocative, stylish and fresh, crisp and well defined. A good nutty finish kept in check by fresh acidity. This is lovely, and will surely get better. From the 2009 annual Champagne Tasting. 17.5+/20 (March 2009)

Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 1999: A bright, crystalline, leafy nose. Nicely structured, rather upright and firm, lots of good acidity, and a firm mousse to match. Good fruit purity, rather crystalline like the nose, with a tight composition. Good potential, approachable now, but will surely improve. From the 2008 annual Champagne tasting. 16.5+/20 (March 2008)

Pierre Moncuit Cuvée Millésimée Brut Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 1996: A nice mid-gold, very fine appearance, showing plenty of bead - at times it seems there are almost more bubbles than wine. A good, bready nose, rich and yeasty in character. Full coffee and malted milk quality on the palate, which is rich and voluptuous but well balanced by great acidity. Toffee-bread flavours lead into a little length. Lovely. 17.5/20 (May 2006)

Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 1995: Smoky, toffee notes. Delicious. There is good maturity, development and complexity evident here. Very rich, but with nice, precise defined characteristics. A classic Blanc de Blancs style, full, softly caressing, with creamy toffee flavour. Underneath is a good acid structure. The mousse is lovely, but fades away a little, on the sharp finish. To be critical, perhaps just a touch soft and unstructured, but really this is very good indeed. From the 2007 Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 16.5/20 (March 2007)

Tasting notes are ordered by date of tasting, most recent first. I have tried to indicate whether it is a tasting of a new release, or of a wine I have cellared.

Pierre Moncuit Cuvée Pierre Moncuit-Delos Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs NV: Current release. This has a lean and stony nose, lightly perfumed, with an attractive, feminine style. Soft, rather gentle on the palate, but with well composed mineral edges and a vigorous and fresh acidity later on. This is good. From the 2009 annual Champagne tasting. 16.5+/20 (March 2009)

Pierre Moncuit Cuvée Delos NV: Current release. Clean and lemony fruit on the nose here, which precedes a svelte texture on the palate, nicely polished, with a good grip underneath. Full, firm, slightly sherbetty acid kick thereafter. This all rounds off in a nice, lemony finish. This has certain potential. From the 2008 annual Champagne tasting. 16-16.5+/20 (March 2008)

Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil NV: Current release. A rich, vibrant, citrus dominated nose. Smoky and mineral in character. A firm structure on the palate, although it was served very cold. Rich, full, just a touch foamy, but a very persistent mousse. A good presence, with firm acidity, and a lemon-steely style. With a year or two to soften up this could be very good indeed. From the 2007 Champagne Information Bureau Tasting. 16+/20 (March 2007)

Pierre Moncuit Le Mesnil Grand Cru Blanc des Blancs Champagne NV: Current release. Nicole Moncuit bottles her non-vintage without reserve wines, so in truth they are all single vintage Champagnes - although only the more serious cuvées bear a date. It's very Côte de Blancs in style. A decent pale golden hue on inspection, with an appealing fine bead. Lovely nose, fresh and lively, but with praline notes to suggest a little richness too. Broad, expansive palate, buoyed up by a gently foaming and very persistent mousse. Lovely, biting acidity. Again just little notes of bread and nuts in the background; predominantly this is a freshly flavoured, herbal white fruit style. Straightforward, yet quite delicious. 17/20 (June 2005)