If there was a winemaker in Champagne that would take the cake for doing the most, it must surely be Moutard. 

Now, although that's third-generation François Moutard pictured above, Moutard is many more members than him alone, and as such goes by the name Famille Moutard. And so it is under Famille Moutard that not only are Champagnes made from the 22.5 hectares of vines in the Cote des Bar, but also the family makes a range of wines in nearby Burgundy (Chablis) with some 29 hectares of vines, and on top of that, the Moutard family also distils an array of spirits, from grape-based gins to vodkas, to malt whiskies made in Champagne, as well as the Champagne and Burgundy trio of Ratafia, Marc and Fines.

And even so, that's still not what's most fascinating about the Moutard's - that instead probably lies with the family's cultivation of Champagne's lost grapes. Whilst most Champagne lovers would be intimately familiar with the Big Three - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier - Champagne as a protected designation in fact allows for eight official varieties (with a ninth under provisional evaluation). Names like Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Fromenteau, Voltis and Pink Chardonnay may not immediately come to mind or are perhaps entirely unheard of when it comes to Champagne, and yet these varieties represent a combination of heirloom varieties that have since lost popularity in large part due to their sensitivities that make them difficult to cultivate at scale, with the newer additions a result of proactive responses to climate change. And whilst the reality is you won't be hearing of these varieties from the Grand Marques or the biggest Champagne-makers anytime soon, they are of great interest to the families who have farmed the lands of Champagne for centuries - and that's where Famille Moutard comes into the picture. 

They make the single and only Champagne cuvee that exists consisting of six of Champagne's permitted varieties (at the time, the only six permitted) - the Big Three, and the three more heirloom ones, of Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc.

Spirits-making in Champagne!

Now why does Moutard do all of these things? Because why not? They've been in the region for centuries and what might feel like a lengthy ten vintages to us, is but a small chapter in their history and understanding of the region. And so they're passionate about the land and what is can offer, and therefore are enthused to express these hallowed grounds in the multitude of interpretations and expressions possible! Just because it's not scalable or commercially efficient, that doesn't mean it's not worth doing. And for that reason, Famille Moutard has carved a serious following for itself. 

Between farming two iconic regions to produce numerous representative styles of wines as enshrined to the wine world, so well studied and distinct, each requiring a lifetime to perfect, and then also producing distilled spirits, which is a whole other category of its own, and on top of all of that, working to revive heirloom varieties - by now, certainly you'd agree that Moutard is indisputably the busiest Champagne-maker out there!

But how did we get here? Let's trace the Moutard story.

Before there were the Moutard's, there were the Diligent's. The family's history dates all the way back to 1642 in the Buxeuil area of the Cote des Bar - an area that (is historically the warmest sub-region of Champagne) has as of late become a source of great excitement for sommeliers and Champagne lovers with its much more bold and daring producers - where it had for over two centuries focused more on producing still wines and had even distilled marcs using copper pot stills. It was only into the 1900's that the house, under François Diligent (his father, Hyacinthe Diligent, and grandfather Louis Diligent), that the family began producing sparkling Champagne wines, as the Champagne Riots of 1911 saw to it that the Aube region's Cote des Bar was firmly classified as being part of the broader Champagne designation (Cote des Bar sits apart from the main Champagne region, and is therefore the southmost area of Champagne, and is in fact closer to Burgundy). 

And so in 1927, from just a mere 1.5 hectares of vines, the Diligent family would officially begin its Champagne-making story producing under its own name, before formally establishing the family's maison in 1941. In turn, François Diligent's daughter Josette would marry one Lucien Moutard (whose father Paul Moutard was too a winegrower), whose family too came from the Cote des Bar, in the area of Polisy, which is where the house's name today comes from! Together they would combine their family's estates into what is Famille Moutard as we know it today.

By 1980, the third-generation would take over the business - of François (pictured right above), Agnes and Veronique. In the decades to come, they would modernise the family's winemaking and expand its vineyard acreage, with the negociant side of the business revived in 1982 (with 15% of fruit sourced from nearby growers, and 85% from estate vines), the distillery (Moutard-Diligent Distillery) back up in 1988, and the vineyards in nearby Chablis acquired in 2004 (Domaine Moutard-Diligent) on the basis of a shared geological characteristic of clay-limestone soils with kimmeridgian bands that sat just several miles away. Along the way, they've moved towards sustainable farming and in 2016 became completely sulphite-free. All the while, the family has continued to do its work in the same Buxeuil area! Today, the fourth-generation of Moutard's are already part of the winery, with Thomas, Edouard, Alexandre, Benoît and Victor all providing a hand across the various activities of Famille Moutard.

Now getting into the heart of Moutard's cultivation of heirloom varieties, it's worth pointing out that as recent at the late 1800's, Moutard's vineyards was in fact home to all 11 permitted varieties of the time! Beyond the Big Three, as well as the now cultivated Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc, Moutard had also farmed Gamay, Savagnin Blanc, Chasselas, and the now extinct Troyen and Morillon! Of course, into the 20th century, these varieties would fall out of favour and be uprooted in favour of what was seen as more reliable and easier to farm.

"My father loved the vines, he experimented with new cultivation and vinification techniques".

Nevertheless, into modernity, it was in fact Lucien Moutard who had gotten the family started back on the path with his first plantings of 10 acres of Arbane in 1952 along the Bar-sur-Seine area, which was in response to the varietal being at the time close to disappearing entirely. His son, François, would thus inherit the parcel and has been deeply passionate about preserving the variety and has committed great dedication to the promotion of the varietal that he had inherited from his father - this first came in the form of a special cuvee made from these very 1952 vines, with just a few thousand bottles able to be produced. According to François, "this variety was late to ripen and is difficult to work with, but it provides an unrivalled finesse to the blend”, delivering unique notes of hawthorn and carnation, with also aromas of Reinette apple, wild peach and quince.

François would eventually expand upon his father's work beyond that parcel of Arbane, which is where the Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc comes from! Employing the use of traditional massal selection, François had wanted to carry on the practice rooted in the region's history to ensure a thriving and vibrant genetic diversity amongst the vines. By using cuttings from several parcels of vines and propagating them (as opposed to using a single vine that is then repeatedly propagated in the process of cloning), this allows the vines to preserve their genetic variance (at the expense of optimisation), which in turn supports its resilience - a single threat is much more unlikely to wipe out a diverse vineyard. This is all the more important considering that less than 1% of vines in the Champagne region come from varieties outside the Big Three, with massal selection propagated vines even rarer.

And so even as recently as 2000, it is said that just one hectare of Petit Meslier had remained in the region, with Moutard remaining firm and steadfast on ensuring its survival. Nevertheless, it must be highlighted that working with such heritage varieties is anything but easy, with Arbane incredibly fickle and delicately vulnerable to climatic changes and pests, Petit Meslier often featuring a trait of erratic ripening, and Pinot Blanc struggling to achieve acidity - which all the more makes Moutard's work rare and respectable. Consequently, it is said that Moutard is till this day the owner of the oldest of these indigenous varieties!

The Cotes des Bar has become home to some of Champagne's most exciting producers, such as Famille Moutard.

Whilst Moutard still predominantly grows and also sources some of its Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier from other local growers, all of these heirloom varieties used in the family's Champagnes come only from its own vineyards, with about 1 hectares each of Arbane and Petit Meslier, and half a hectare of Pinot Blanc (vis-a-vis 13.9 hectares of Pinot Noir, 5.7 hectares of Chardonnay and 0.5 hectares of Meunier) - the average age of its vines at 40 years old are also slightly older than the region's norm.

And so with all that said, let's dig right into what is arguable Champagne's most singular and unique cuvee - the Moutard Cuvee des 6 Cepages!

PS. If this sounds like something you'd like to try, Champagne Everyday is responsible for carrying Famille Moutard's Champagnes. And if you're a Champagne fan, Champagne Everyday also regularly runs Champagne-themed tastings and dinners for its members, who also get first dibs on some incredibly highly allocated labels with very small and sought after outturns! We were very fortunate to get to try this at the Fete de la St. Vincent walkabout tasting which featured 30 cuvees that were popped for tasting!

Champagne Review: Champagne Moutard Cuvee des 6 Cepages Brut Nature

And here we are with the one and only Moutard Cuvee des 6 Cepages Brut Nature - it's worth noting that there's even a Rose variant of this cuvee! - which is made from an equal portion of the 6 varieties of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Meunier, Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc. It's vinified in used White Burgundy oak barrels for 8 months before ageing on the lees for 6-10 years under cork with zero dosage.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Gold

Aroma: It opens fresh and bright, with aromas of green apples and lemon curd, garnished with lots of white florals and just a light drizzle of honey and soft, supple doughiness. There's a little bit of toasted almonds, with then further back some bramble of cherries and blackberries. It's zippy and zingy, softened by the gentle doughiness, with then a chiselled backbone of chalk. Light dusting of baking spices.

Taste: Pops on the open with such vibrancy! All those bright zesty fruits once again, of green apples, lemon curd, limes, touch of passionfruit, the acidity is fresh and zippy, almost racy, yet at the same time layered with fresh plucks of dough, cold butter and toasted almonds. At its core is a concentration of supple and juicy fruit jellies, of raspberries, blackberries and cherries, all cooked down. Those florals garnish the body with perfumed patchouli of white florals, irises and rose petals. The bubbles here are pearly and persistent, rather bracing, adding to that verve and energetic character of the body. Little nuggets of Himalayan sea salt ginger candy dots about. Also a slightly herbaceous quality of dried rosemary, giving it some savouriness, as well as an undercurrent of soda water minerality.

Finish: It carries through with such zest, both in liveliness and acidity! Here it's more on baked apples with a deep and soft sweetness, drizzled in honey with also more of that baking spice. It's richer into the finish, almost fuller and rounder. Aromatic oak serves as the canvas sans any graininess, yet adding this air of aged mustiness of refined and exotic antique cellars. The finish is clean and seamless, lightly brisk, with a persistence of the lemony citrus, a touch of cream, and soft notes of dried herbs.

My Thoughts

True to its terroir, it's fresh and zingy, with this well defined freshness of citruses and green fruits, that's then so beautifully cusped by white florals and soft confectionaries of doughiness, almonds and honey, making for an incredibly idyllic aroma. Yet at the same time you're immediately clued in that this cuvee means business, with that chiselled structure of minerality that comes after. 

But that's just the tip of the iceberg - the body demonstrates multitudes, showcasing such depth with those well developed layers of bramble fruit core, savoury herbaceous dried rosemary and soda water minerality. There's such a complexity, so well structured and at once compact and with depth, rendered with such finesse. Every aspect incredibly precise and clean, yet placed with such curation. It carries such an energy and liveliness and vibrance from the moment it contacts the palate, all the way through the finish, evolving some more to give a cornucopia of baked orchard fruits, honey and baking spice, with this most enchanting exotic woodiness. It finally finishes off with great length and aromatics that persists. 

This isn't just another interesting cuvee, it's complex and demonstrates such finesse contrasted against that raw purity and freshness. It fools you to think that it's of youth and brightness, and yet when you taste it, it becomes immediately clear that it has an understated intensity of depth that can only come with age and composition.