Hugues Godmé, Millesime Brut Grand Cru 2006, $69
The Godmé family has been growing grapes in the village of Verzenay, in the Montagne de Reims, since the 19th century. Just after World War II, Joseph Godmé began making his own Champagne and he soon became one of the first small producers to bottle all of their fruit themselves, selling nothing to the large houses. Hugues Godmé, Joseph’s grandson, received his first vineyard from his grandfather in 1976, when he was still a student at enology school. In time, the younger generation took over the estate and for many years, Hugues and his sister Sabine jointly oversaw operations. But they had very different sylistic ideas about Champagne, which prevented Hugues from crafting his wines entirely the way he wanted to. Eventually they decided to split up the family domain. Today, though quiet and unassuming, Hugues is considered somewhat of a nouvelle vague, part of a new wave of vignerons, producing pure, terroir driven wines from impeccably grown fruit. He now farms completely biodynamically and picks his fruit relatively early in order to achieve maximum freshness. In the winery he uses native yeasts, with no fining or filtration, ages his wines on the lees, and vinifies in wood. “What I want to achieve for all of my wines,” he says, “is a certain lightness….I prefer sensuality and lace to something too overt.” This 2006 vintage offering is 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir from his Grand Cru vineyards in Verzenay and Verzy. Complex, elegant, and expressive, it has wonderfully inviting earthy, herbal notes that speak of the vineyards in which it was grown and of the winemaker who lovingly crafted it. It is ready to drink anytime.