This is made from Jean-Paul Hebrart's favorite parcels in Mareuil-sur-Ay and is intended as tribute its terroir. It is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay old vines, massale selction. Based on 2016 and blended with stocks of older vintages, this bottling was disgorged in April 2021 with a dosage of 6 grams per liter.

 

The NV Brut Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay taken from ten lieux-dits in Mareuil. Rich, creamy and ample in feel, Mes Favorites offers a beguiling mix of old-vine intensity wrapped around a core of bright acids. Kirsch, dried flowers, mint, spice and pear build as this showy, inviting Champagne offers a warm embrace. Dosage is 5 grams per liter. Disgorged: January18, 2022.  - By Antonio Galloni on November 2023

 

94 pts The Champagne Guide - Tyson Stelzer

 (tasted in 2023 in France; Jean-Paul Hébrart’s favourite parcels of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ from vines between 45 and 60 years of age; 80% pinot noir and 20% chardonnay from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ; 60% 2018 and 40% 2016; 5.5g/L dosage of MCR; disgorged 14 September 2022). The succulent approachability of 2018 makes for a friendly and immediate Mes Favourites of elegance and allure. Strawberry and red cherry fruit is underlined by lemon freshness and the gently understated, fine chalk minerality of Mareuil. There is a succulent fruit core here that expresses the allure of pinot noir. A release with a relaxed demeanour to enjoy in its glorious youth. (Edition VII; 2024)"

 

Disgorged in August 2019, Hébrart's new release of the NV Brut Premier Cru Mes Favorites Vieilles Vignes is based on the 2015 vintage. Wafting from the glass with aromas of pear, white flowers, blanched almonds and Meyer lemon, it's medium to full-bodied, bright and pillowy, with a pretty core of fruit, lively acids and a refined mousse. Once again, it derives from superior, south-facing sites in Mareuil-sur-Ay that also inform his Special Club bottling.

Importer's Notes: "It has a truly noble Pinot Noir fragrance, leading to an utter masterpiece of weightless concentration, as huge and yet as penetrable as a cumulous cloud. Mareuil is clearly great but it's also somewhat inscrutable; it has some of the malt of Aÿ, some mirabelle confiture, an almost gingery spice and top notes of chalk. This wine has great, gossamer opulence."

 

About Marc Hebrart  (MAREUIL-SUR-AY)

Region: Vallée de la Marne
Premier Cru Sites: Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay, Val d’Or and Bisseuil
Grand Cru Sites: Aÿ, Avize, Chouilly, Oiry
Annual Production: 5,800 cases
Total Vineyard Holdings: 15 hectares
Vines: 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay

Jean-Paul Hébrart took over Marc Hébrart from his father in 1997. His father had been producing estate bottled wines since 1964 and joined the Club Trésors in 1985 Jean-Paul has slowly developed the estate in the last 20 years to one of the very finest grower estates in the Marne. The basis for these outstanding wines are the privileged holdings in Aÿ, including the newly purchased plots in Le Léon, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, and Dizy in the Grande Vallée as well as Avize, Oiry and Chouilly in the Côte and recently acquired vineyards in Louvois in the Montagne. Jean-Paul harvests, presses and vinifies each of his over 85 plots separately, blending sites to make harmonious wines which reflect the personality of the grower as well as the terroir. A majority of the wines are fermented in steel, though old used barrels have become a part of his program for Rive Gauche-Rive Droite and his new wine, Clos de Léon, both of which are fermented and aged in neutral barrique.

 

The Hébrart wines are truly of both place and person, the kind, welcoming and generous qualities that Jean-Paul Hébrart exudes can be seen in all of his Champagnes. And while he could easily rest on his laurels at this point, JP instead continues to expand his range, experimenting with lower dosage levels in his benchmark cuvées, and producing stunning Coteaux Champenoise from recently acquired, historic vineyards.

 

“Undeniably, Mareuil should belong to the grand cru villages. Most of the vineyards reach almost the same quality as those of Aÿ. In their youth, what may distinguish a Mareuil wine from an Aÿ wine is a hawthorn-like flowery bouquet. On aging, the wines become practically impossible to tell apart.”
– Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes