Paul Lebrun, France

Nathalie, is the sixth generation of her family to make wine in Cramant (although her family’s ties to Champagne date as far back as the 16th century). Her grandfather, Paul Lebrun, was one of the first vignerons to break away from the big négociants after the Great War and established his own brand, Champagne Paul Lebrun, in 1931. Nathalie is all about terroir. Together with her brother, she owns 16.5 hectares distributed across the Côte des Blancs and the Côte de Sézanne, including 3 Grand Cru and 2 Premier Cru villages. The jewel in the crown is Cramant, which was one of the first villages of the Côte des Blancs to be classified Grand Cru. The chalky clay soils of Cramant give richness and power to the wines. By contrast, the Côte de Sézanne (in reality an extension of the Côte des Blancs but more often referred to as one of the 5 sub-regions of Champagne) is dominated by chalk and marl. Its more southerly location and heavier soils giver riper and more fragrantly fruity wines. The soil is made up of silex stones, which collect the heat of the sun during the day, redistributing it to the vines at night. Nathalie is also about family. Her aim is to preserve and improve upon her family’s legacy in order to hand over in turn to her son Joseph. This is reflected in the range of Hérédis-Terres wines, which celebrates key winemaking figures in her family.

Viticulture

With 16.5 hectares of vines across the Côte des Blancs and the Côte de Sézanne, including 3 Grand Cru and 2 Premier Cru villages, but the jewel in the crown is Cramant, which was one of the first villages of the Côte des Blancs to be classified Grand Cru. By contrast, the more southerly Côte de Sézanne is composed of heavier chalk and marl soils, with silex stones, which collect the heat of the sun during the day, redistributing it to the vines at night. All work in the vineyard is carried out without pesticides or herbicides but with plenty of common sense. The house obtained Récolteur Manipulant status in 2012 and has been certified HVE Level 3 since 2018.

Winemaking

Grapes are hand-picked at optimum maturity, whole-cluster pressed, with separation of first and second press juices, using only the first press. There is cold settling for clarification and slow fermentation at low temperatures with various selected yeasts. Most of the base wines are fermented in stainless steel tank and go through malo, with several months of tank ageing. The winery itself is certified HVE 3 (High Environmental Value), thus combined with their low intervention techniques in the vineyard, and a cellar that was completely redesigned in 2017/2018 this is a winery that is determined to make as minimal an impact on the environment and be as sustainable as possible.