FOSSILE

A five-hectare family vineyard in the attractive village of Fleury-La-Rivière in the Marne valley, a site with a very specific subsoil of 45 million-year-old sandy chalk and clay, which has the peculiarity of being stuffed with fossil shells of impressive abundance and dimensions.

The Heucq family have been vignerons for at least four generations. In 1979 François and Véronique inherited part of the family holdings, and François installed a press and became a récoltant-manipulant. In 2019, their son Guillaume and his wife Melody took over with enthusiasm, brim full of new ideas including, vinification by parcel, vinification in barrel (30%), and the creation of their own marque 'M & G Heucq'.

Nearly all the vineyard is in Fleury-La-Rivière, and it averages 35 years old. They have been HVE3 certified since 2020. Guillaume describes his vines as 'pampered', with minimal inputs, grassed over and ploughed under the rows. Treatments are organic where possible - he estimates 80%. The object is to pick perfect grapes and press them gently in order to realise their three blended cuvées and four cuvées parcellaires. The wines are given a dose of SO2 under the press and then fermented using a mix of indigenous and selected yeasts, then matured on the lees in a reductive state, so that they do not need further SO2 until bottling, and this he keeps to the bare minimum. By far the largest cuvée is the 'Fossile' blend, with two of the parcel cuvées being only 500 bottles each. Guillaume won the prize from the Jeunes Talents du Champagne group of qualitatively-minded young vignerons for this first release of 'Fossile' in 2021.