Dehours et Fils Grande Reserve

“Based on the 2020 vintage, complemented by 39% reserve wines, and disgorged in September 2022 with five grams per liter dosage, the NV Brut Grande Réserve bursts with aromas of pear, apple, honeycomb, toasted nuts, freshly baked bread and white flowers. Medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy, it’s charming and sensual, with a generous core of fruit and an expansive finish.” – William Kelley, Wine Advocate

“Located in Cerseuil, this 16-hectare domaine’s holdings, divided among over 40 parcels, are situated on the left bank of the Marne, on one of its tributaries, encompassing a wide variety of expositions. Rich in clay and subject to landslides, these steep slopes are founded on limestone, not chalk, with a band of sand at around 120 meters in altitude, making for similarly diverse geology. Meunier is king in this sector, and the village is a popular source for Maison Krug. It’s in this context that Jérôme Dehours crafts his complex, flavorsome, vinous Champagnes. In 1999, after studies in Beaune, Dehours introduced the domaine’s first oak barrels and began isolating single vineyards. Today, he cultivates under the vine mechanically (with one complete cultivation per year); picks late with lots of sorting when it’s required; and increasingly ferments in larger 500-liter barrels rather than their smaller counterparts, retaining lots of solids to nourish the vins clairs during their élevage. After pushing his wines in a rather more patinated, oxidative direction in the last few years, he’s reining things in: subtly increasing the use of sulfites and refreshing his solera of reserve wines to avoid falling into extremes. His latest releases are all well worth following, and the quality he achieved in the 2017 vintage, especially challenging for Meunier, is testament to the seriousness that readers can expect at this address. I’ll be hoping to catch up with his latest lieu-dit bottlings in the near future, but for now, everything reviewed here comes warmly recommended.” – William Kelley, Wine Advocate