A Man and His Horse - Benoit Lahaye
4/15/12 -
One of the stars of my recent trip to Champagne was Benoït Lahaye, a grower in the Grand Cru of Bouzy, a village in the Montagne de Reims known for its powerful Pinot Noir-based Champagnes. I already knew that I liked Lahaye’s wines very much; I had been working to procure them for Chambers Street since the eminent Champagne writer, Peter Liem, had told me he views Lahaye’s wines as the best in Bouzy. I could not have anticipated how much I would come to respect the man during our visit.
Benoït farms just shy of five hectares, planted about 90% to Pinot Noir. He stopped using systemic herbicides (widely used in Champagne, loathed by Benoït Lahaye) in the mid-90s. By the early 2000s, the Domaine was entirely converted to organic viticulture. By 2007, Benoït was certified; by 2009 Benoït was certified in biodynamics. It is difficult to express what a challenge it is to do this kind of vineyard work in Champagne. In addition to the struggle to fight mildew and odium without chemical treatments, there’s the issue of one’s neighbors. The Champenoises refer to the vineyards in the northern part of Champagne as being “morcelées,” meaning “parceled out.” The region is a patchwork of tiny plots of land, worked by many people, the vast majority of whom use chemicals. An organic grower’s vineyards are always threatened by runoff from his or her neighbor’s vines. In short, organic (not to mention biodynamic) farming is a real labor of love in Champagne, practiced by those few dedicated growers who genuinely want to make the best wine possible and believe this process begins with the soil. In a further attempt to promote healthy soil, airy and not compacted by a tractor, Benoït recently began plowing the majority of his Domaine with his horse, a sweet-natured, 900 pound creature.
In the cellar, Benoït is a minimalist and his wines are subtle, and delicate for Bouzy Champagnes; minerality speaks loudest of all. A portion of Benoit’s wines are raised in barrel and he hopes, eventually, to accommodate 50% of his production in barrel. The wines undergo malolactic fermentation sometimes, but not always. In general, he blends malo and non-malo wines together for a balanced, finished wine. Dosages are steadily decreasing each year as he harvests riper grapes with no sacrifice of acidity. He attributes this increase in ripeness to organic farming. As a finishing touch, in cooler years, Lahaye puts his vintage wine under cork rather than capsule for the second fermentation (a practice called tiré à liège), which gives the wines a broader and more generous character from slightly more exposure to oxygen. The 2006 we currently have in stock is drinking beautifully right now.
Because Lahaye’s production is small and his wines are in high demand in France, supplies are extremely limited. Please do not miss the opportunity to try these remarkable Champagnes. -Sophie
