One Woman's Crazy Idea Changed This Champagne Forever

This small grower estate has roots stretching back to the 1800s, but like so many récoltant-manipulant producers scattered throughout Champagne, Duménil has remained relatively unknown in the American market. When its importer decided to move on, we tasted the wines for the first time.

And immediately wondered where they'd been hiding.

Today, Duménil is led by Frédérique Duménil, who unexpectedly took charge of her family's estate at just 21 years old in 2000 after her father became ill. Alongside her husband, who handles much of the viticulture, Frédérique has continued a family story that includes one particularly important decision made more than half a century ago.

That decision involved Chardonnay.

The family's vineyards are centered around Chigny-les-Roses in the Montagne de Reims, an area traditionally associated with Pinot varieties. Frédérique's grandmother, Cécile, however, loved vintage Champagne and believed Chardonnay could give their wines additional longevity.

So in 1969, when Chardonnay was hardly the obvious choice for the area, she planted it anyway.

It worked.

Those plantings became an important part of the estate's identity and today help define the 2015 Duménil Vintage Brut.

The blend is 60% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Meunier and 20% Pinot Noir, sourced from cooler north-facing slopes. That's particularly important in a warm, sunny vintage like 2015, where cooler exposures helped preserve the acidity, balance and structure necessary for serious Champagne.

And this wasn't rushed out the cellar door.

The 2015 spent more than six years aging on its lees before disgorgement in 2022, followed by several additional years in bottle. Today, at roughly 11 years from vintage, it's drinking beautifully.

There's a gorgeous green-gold color followed by bright stone fruit, citrus, subtle tropical notes and wonderful energy. Despite the extended aging, this isn't an excessively doughy or brioche-heavy Champagne. There's impressive clarity and precision, with tangy fruit, freshness and enough structure to suggest Cécile's Chardonnay experiment accomplished exactly what she hoped it would.

Then there's the price.

Vintage Champagne has become expensive. $85 to $100+ is increasingly normal, while this bottle would ordinarily represent excellent value even at its roughly $70 retail price.

Our price?

$34.98.

For an 11-year-old, vintage-dated grower Champagne with six-plus years on the lees, that's ridiculous.

And there are only 180 bottles.

Sometimes somebody else's decision to move on becomes our opportunity.

This is one of those times.
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