Description
Champagne Marguet, “Shaman 18” Grand Cru Rosé
I haven’t visited Champagne for a few years now, but I’m certain however long it takes to get back, one special moment will never leave my memory. On my final day, I was invited to a private tasting of Ambonnay/Bouzy Rouge, and although it was a cramped room with stale, collar-tugging heat, it still felt like Shangri-La to me. As Hervé from Champagne Camille Savès poured me a taste of his Coteaux Champenois, a bright-eyed man sidled up and we started chatting. I mentioned some of my favorite Ambonnay producers, and when Champagne Marguet was mentioned, he raised an eyebrow and asked why.
I gave my answer, and our pleasant conversation eventually ended with a handshake and smile. I then turned to find Hervé Savès bursting into laughter: “That was Benôit Marguet.” Of course it was! I looked back but he was long gone. I bring all this up because the man is just like his champagnes. Never loud, excessive, or presumptuous. Always engaging, enigmatic, and incredibly intelligent. For me, his biodynamic, barrel-aged, low-to-no-sulfur creations are breathtaking, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a $68 Grand Cru rosé with more power, purity, and individuality than this “Shaman 18.” Up to six bottles per person.
BONUS: Click here to secure Marguet’s indelible 2017 Ambonnay Rosé. We only have 28 bottles…
In Peter Liem’s outstanding Champagne publication, he declares “few have explored Ambonnay’s terroir in as much detail as Benoît Marguet.” Benoît Marguet is first in line to become the next globally recognized organic/biodynamic Champagne superstar. His wines have already infiltrated the collector market and are increasingly visible on trending restaurant wine lists across the globe. And, with ubiquitous nods of approval from critics, this formerly best-kept secret producer is well on the way to stardom. Whether or not Benoît Marguet wants or enjoys this “overnight” fame doesn’t matter—his cachet continues to rise, as do the prices of his coveted wines! Having rewritten the rules at his five-generations-old family estate, Benoît is bottling some of the region’s most uniquely expressive and fascinating wines from his tiny collection of Grand Cru vineyards in Ambonnay and Bouzy.
Born and raised in Ambonnay, Benoît cut his teeth by assisting a who’s who of local producers in the village’s enology lab and later lending his growing talents to G.H. Mumm. Next, Benoît traveled to the US where he served as assistant winemaker under the legendary Paul Hobbs. Wishing to strengthen his understanding of global wine tradition and restaurant service—and needing to fulfill his conscription—Benoît returned home and oversaw an enormous Parisian cellar while serving as a sommelier in the main officers’ dining hall. After perfecting his touch with a variety of terroirs, styles, and life experiences, Benoît knew it was time to move back to his family’s small property in Ambonnay. Over the last 15 years, he has transformed it into one of the most passionately run organic- and biodynamic-certified properties in all of Champagne.
Benoît immediately set to work revolutionizing the way his family’s property functioned. His goal was to create a farm where the vines and cellar functioned not as separate parts, but as one complete circuit. In 2004, he began transitioning his family’s vines to biodynamic farming. I cannot stress enough how challenging an undertaking this is in Champagne. The infamously cold and wet weather, combined with a regional tendency toward monoculture, creates an environment in which only the most focused vigneron can succeed with natural farming. Benoît attacked this challenge with great zeal. By 2009 he had completely transitioned three hectares to biodynamics, and by 2011 his entire property was Certified Organic.
What’s most impressive is the uncompromising totality with which Benoît approaches organic farming and biodynamics—seemingly everything is done the hard way. He uses horses in the place of tractors and he experiments relentlessly in an effort to find natural substitutes for sulfur in his vineyards and wine. Before harvesting a single cluster, Benoît is known to walk the rows and “thank” the vines for their contribution to the vintage. In visiting Marguet, it’s clear that this unique combination of outside-the-box thinking, humility, and precise determination contributes to the stunning quality of the wines.
Benoît’s approach in the cellar is as unorthodox as it is fascinating. He conducts blending outside in the open air so he can taste his wines in the same environment as his vines. He also uses opaque, black glassware in the blending process so as to ensure his decisions are guided solely by aroma and texture, not appearance. A look into Benoît’s barrel room reveals a vast arsenal of ancient wooden vessels of all sizes. There are large fermenters, small Burgundy barrels, and even smaller, more obscure barrels like those used in Sauternes. There is no fancy machinery and no chemicals. Additionally, enormous stones and crystals are placed throughout the cellar, as Benoît believes they positively impact the cellar’s energy. While there is no conventional scientific evidence to explain this, I will say that there is something altogether unique and expressive about these wines. They have a vividness and detail that is truly distinct.
Marguet’s Grand Cru “Shaman 18” is composed of some of the most meticulously farmed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in all of Champagne, specifically, in the Grand Cru villages of Ambonnay and Bouzy. This bottling is predominantly from the 2018 vintage with a generous amount of “reserves” from older years to boost the wine’s already mind-bending complexities. Both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations occur in neutral oak, and when moving to and from barrel, the wine is always transferred by gravity. This matured just over two years on lees and was disgorged in the waning months of 2021. Zero sugar was added, and sulfur additions were nanoscopic at just 17 mg/l.
Give this puppy lots of air! For me, Marguet’s Champagnes shift in both flavor and texture as it takes on more oxygen so please do serve in all-purpose stems and, as an added bonus, save some for day two. That’s when his wines really start to shine. This “Shaman 18” delivers a deeply textured and full mouthfeel of pomegranate, poached red apple, bruised cherry, green strawberry, redcurrant, salted citrus, iodine, rose stem, wet stone, and exotic spice. It is tooth-rattlingly dry yet its vinous power and dense, endlessly energetic core of dark fruit keep it lifted and dynamic; you won’t miss the dosage one bit. Again, please do let this open up, save some for the second night, and be sure to cellar your other bottles for an extra few years. You’ll be stunned by the transformation!
