Description
Champagne Marc Hébrart, “Rive Gauche-Rive Droite” Grand Cru
After looking back at the past year of our Champagne Marc Hébrart offerings, I couldn’t be more elated to complete their elite trio of prestige cuvées. First came the inaugural release of their 2014 “Clos Le Léon,” a rare and arresting masterpiece that should be discussed alongside the region’s finest Blanc de Blancs. Then came their “Noces de Craie,” a profound Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs that I’d been trying to get on the books for years. And now, I’m proud to reveal an immensely powerful and knee-weakening fusion of the two: Hébrart’s 2013 “Rive Gauche-Rive Droite.”
Sourced from seven Grand Cru parcels, vinified in premium French oak, and aged sur lie for seven years, this is a sumptuous melding of Champagne’s broadest, most muscular Aÿ Pinot Noir and the sharpest, most textural Côte des Blancs Chardonnay. If you ask me, it should serve as a rare-earth magnet for those who savor the long-aged, barrel-influenced, deeply vinous beauties of Rodez, Egly, and Krug. How lucky are we to have this experience! Up to four bottles per person. Free Ground Shipping on two.
When it comes to the top labels of Champagne’s finest grower-producers, the competition is ruthlessly fierce. The region has never seen quality, pedigree, and prices of this magnitude, nor has there been a time in history when the region has been as exhaustively studied and analyzed as it is now. Accordingly, Champagne luminaries have their ears glued to the ground hoping to discover “the next big thing.” In the last decade, Marc Hébrart has been owning that “thing” with epic cuvées like “Clos Le Léon,” “Noces de Craie,” and today’s “Rive Gauche-Rive Droite.” All of these bottlings have earned prominent spots in my all-time favorites list. There’s a reason Champagne luminary Peter Liem called Marc Hébrart “one of the finest estates in the Grande Vallée”—high praise that puts them on the same plane as megastars Billecart-Salmon, Philipponnat, Gosset, Laval, Bollinger…names that grace every Michelin-star wine list.
Proprietor Jean-Paul Hébrart channels his inner “master blending” powers to create “Rive Gauche-Rive Droite.” Referring to the left and right banks of the River Marne, seven distinct, sustainably farmed parcels are used to create this magnificent blend. The Pinot Noir hails from three vineyards within the Grand Cru village of Aÿ: historic “Le Léon,” “Pruche,” and “Chauffour.” The Chardonnay comes from four parcels scattered across the Grand Cru villages of Avize, Chouilly, and Oiry in the fabled Côte des Blancs.
For this 2013 release, Jean-Paul’s team hand-harvested the crop later than usual to ensure each cluster was bursting at the seams with ripeness and concentration. In the cellar, after the grapes were gently pressed, both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations occurred in French oak barrels. The resulting wine was transferred into a bottle without filtration where it aged on lees for seven years. It was disgorged in January 2021 and topped off with a four-gram dosage. With two years of post-disgorgement aging under its belt, this has become a smoking Grand Cru Champagne.
If you want the full effect of Hébrart’s luxurious Champagne, rummage around your stemware collection and pull out either a flared tulip, all-purpose glass, or Burgundy stem. I personally opt for the latter because as much of a bubble fiend I am, there’s something incredibly exquisite and revealing about a high-quality Champagne that has shed some carbonation, especially at a warmer temperature (50-55 degrees). To me, they drink finer and more sublime, Burgundian in a sense, and one can get a candid view of quality since there are fewer bubbles “masking” the nuanced flavors. To go a step further, do not drain your bottle quickly! Rather, take your sweet time, let it open up and unfold over several hours. I even suggest saving some for day two.
