One of the best finds from VinExpo in Bordeaux last year was Champagne Dehours. Our ABC wine team tasted through two dozen references of fine grower Champagnes, all very carefully preselected by DIVA Nord. Tasting grower Champagne was a first for me. I was expecting somewhat higher than average quality, instead I was tasting some of the best Champagnes ever, independent of price. This was a revelation, like discovering Champagne all over again.

Everything on that tasting table was good, but one producer stood out of the bunch--Jérôme Dehours. Our tasters were immediately seduced by the intensity of flavors and purity of Dehours Champagnes. Two wines were retained: Domaine Dehours Grand Réserve Brut and Domaine Dehours La Côte en Bosses Extra Brut 2005.

Jérôme Dehours

Jérôme Dehours's wines come from a 14-hectare domaine based in Cerseuil, in the Marne Valley, west of  Epernay. Like much of the Champagne area, the estate is formed from a patchwork of 42 plots, spread across the villages of Mareuil-le-Port, Oeuilly and Troissy. The diversity of sun exposure, subsoil, varieties, altitude and age of vines gives, as a result, many hues to work with in the creation of true terroir wines.

Jérôme’s grandfather, Ludovic, was one of the first independent growers, a revolution in the 1930s. His father, Robert, was in the 1970s (along with a few other growers) a precursor of the idea of reserve wines; a measure that consists of keeping aside a certain volume of wine from very good years in order to overcome difficulties and cope with future bad harvests. In fact, the Domaine Dehours Grand Réserve Brut consists of 26% reserve wine from the Solera system that started in 1998. The reserve wine is the ‘soul’ of the assemblage.

Since taking control of the family domain in 1996, Jérôme has developed a viticulture rejecting pesticides and herbicides and his plots often bear grass in the rows.

Domaine Dehours Grand Réserve Brut – Champagne, France

Jérôme Dehours is one of the artisanal wine makers in Champagne. He is the third generation of the family which started in the 1930s. His Grand Réserve Brut is mostly Pinot Meunier, the predominant variety in this area of the Marne Valley, with some Chardonnay of the same vintage and a large dose of reserves from older vintages. The wine is yellow/gold with citrus notes, pear and apricot followed by a toasty note. There is a rare balance between lively freshness and the richness from the reserves. $42.99.

Domaine Dehours La Côte en Bosses Extra Brut 2005 – Champagne, France

A true grower Champagne, this comes from a vineyard of just over half a hectare at the bottom of the slope in Mareuil le Port in the Marne Valley. The vineyard is planted in old vines of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The harvest is all manual and the aging is in oak casks. The wine was bottled July 12, 2006, and disgorged December 13, 2012. Only 2,402 bottles were produced. A golden color leads to notes of toast, almond and flowers on a rich middle and long-lasting finish. $64.99.

Atanas Nechkov, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Wine Supervisor

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