Click below to read more about this month’s club

Hugues Godmé “Fins Bois” Grand Cru Champagne

Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France

Grape Varietals

• 60% Pinot Noir
• 40% Chardonnay

The Pinot Noir supplies much of the wine’s structure, breadth and savory depth, while Chardonnay contributes lift, freshness and finesse. The combination is especially well suited to the chalk-dominated Grand Cru vineyards of the northern Montagne de Reims.

Location
Champagne AOC — Grand Cru
Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France

Fruit comes from the Grand Cru villages of Verzenay and Verzy, including the parcels Les Chaillots and Les Vignes Goisses in Verzenay and Les Bussets in Verzy. These vineyards are planted on the chalk-rich soils that are central to the character of this part of Champagne. Hugues Godmé is based in Verzenay, where his family has farmed vines for five generations.

Viticulture & Winemaking
Organic and Biodynamic

Hugues Godmé farms organically and biodynamically and is certified through Biodyvin. The wine is fermented with native yeasts and relatively moderate sulfur additions. Most of the wine is vinified and matured on its lees in oak barrels, with very little bâtonnage, and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. The Fins Bois blend incorporates a substantial proportion of reserve wines, adding complexity and depth.

Cellar Window: Drink now through approximately 2031

Tasting Notes
Fins Bois is a deep, vinous and distinctly mineral style of grower Champagne rather than a simple light aperitif. Note ripe apple, pear and citrus layered with brioche, toasted bread, hazelnut and subtle oak-derived spice. Pinot Noir brings additional breadth and a slightly darker fruit character, while Chardonnay keeps the wine lifted and energetic. What distinguishes the cuvée most strongly is its chalky, saline core: the palate is broad and substantial but finishes fresh, dry and precise, with mineral, savory and gently bitter notes lingering after the fruit fades. 

Food Pairings
This is substantial enough to serve throughout a meal, not simply as an opening glass. It is excellent with oysters, scallops, lobster, crab, smoked salmon and richer white fish, where the wine’s acidity and saline character echo the seafood. Try it with roast chicken, poultry in a cream or mushroom sauce, pork tenderloin, mushroom risotto or dishes featuring brown butter. The combination of Pinot Noir, oak aging and lees-derived richness also makes it surprisingly effective with fried foods such as tempura or fried chicken.

For cheese, pair it with Comté, Gruyère, aged Gouda or Parmigiano-Reggiano. A simple plate of aged Comté, toasted hazelnuts and good bread would highlight both the Champagne’s nutty lees character and its chalky finish. 

About the Producer
Hugues Godmé is an independent grower based in Verzenay in the Montagne de Reims, representing the fifth generation of his family to cultivate vines in Champagne. The family farms vineyards in the Grand Cru villages of Verzenay and Verzy as well as Premier Cru sites including Villers-Marmery and Villedommange. Godmé began reconsidering conventional vineyard practices during the 1990s as he became increasingly focused on the differences among individual parcels and their soils. He returned to plowing, introduced natural ground cover and eventually eliminated chemical treatments in favor of plant- and mineral-based preparations. The estate entered organic certification in 2010 and biodynamic certification shortly afterward and is now Biodyvin certified.

Godmé’s philosophy centers on allowing individual Champagne terroirs to speak rather than creating a heavily manipulated house style. Native yeast fermentation, oak, extended lees contact, low sulfur, low dosage and minimal intervention are recurring themes in the cellar. Champagne’s official growers’ directory specifically highlights the domaine’s biodynamic farming, traditional cellar and oak-barrel winemaking, while Godmé himself has described his goal as achieving lightness, sensuality and wines capable of aging, rather than wines that reveal everything immediately.