Champagne Damien Hugot: Tradition and Excellence
"He is a perfectionist... he does all the work in the vineyards, bottling, labeling, and marketing!" — Miwa Hiraze on her husband Damien Hugot
Philip Roufail at K&L Wine Merchants, Culver City.
Champagne's grower-producer "movement" is a product of the modern era, so it's easy to forget that many Récoltant-manipulants (RMs) were established for hundreds of years before they made the challenging and risky leap from grower to producer. The Hugot family planted vines in Champagne as early as 1660, but 261 years passed before the Hugot name appeared on its first bottle in 1921, a milestone that is honored with their cuvée NV Damien Hugot "Hommage 1921" Extra Brut Champagne $49.99.
Damien is the 25th generation to run the family business. Along with his wife Miwa (who we are privileged to welcome back to Culver City and San Francisco in a couple of weeks for our annual Champagne Tent Event), Damien manages a spectacular 20 acres of Grand Cru Chardonnay in the historic villages of Chouilly and Cramant, and old-vine Meunier from the cold microclimate of sud-Épernay. Hugot's house style marries tradition, like barrel fermentation, with more modern techniques, like a perpetual reserve, to produce an excellent lineup of big, bold, and rich Chardonnay dominant cuvées from Champagne's famed Côte des Blancs, the region's gold real estate for Chardonnay.
K&L started direct importing Damien and Miwa's Champagnes in 2019, and they quickly became a customer favorite. Their flagship brut non-vintage Champagne is the NV Damien Hugot Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne $42.99. Sourced from 40-year-old vines in Chouilly and Cramant, 70% of the blend is the base vintage of 2022, while the remainder is from a perpetual reserve. The base wine is barrel fermented in foudres, which are very large oak barrels. The perpetual reserve is also in a foudre, allowing for slow oxygenation that, over time, produces greater depth and complexity. Aged for three years on the lees with a dosage of 4 g/l, the result is a creamy, rich Champagne with notes of hazelnut, honey, pear, and orchard fruit, all wrapped up in a toasty package.
The NV Damien Hugot Rosé Extra Brut Champagne $44.99 is surprisingly light and ethereal for a champagne born in barrel. Like the Brut, the rosé is all 2022 Grand Cru Chardonnay from Chouilly and Cramant barrel fermented in a foudre, except for 5% Grand Cru Pinot Noir from a perpetual reserve. The result is a Champagne that is delicate, floral, and racy, bursting with wild strawberry, raspberry, tangerine, and brioche, and finishing with a soft juicy touch. This is definitely one of my favorite rosé Champagnes on the rack right now!
We're going to finish our very brief introduction to Champagne Damien Hugot with the 2016 Damien Hugot Grand Cru "Cramant" Blanc de Blancs Millesime $64.99. Everything about this Champagne is special. Not only is it 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay, but it's a mono cru (single village), 100% Cramant. Cramant was designated a Grand Cru village in 1910, over 25 years before France's A.O.C. system was created, and is known for its powerful, creamy, and textured Champagnes oozing with finesse, elegance, and the intense chalky minerality for which the Côte des Blancs is famous. Unlike the previous blends, the 2016 Cramant was fermented in stainless steel tanks, giving it an electric backbone of acidity to balance its chewy, rich profile. At ten years old, the 2016 is hitting its sweet spot: high-tone citrus, toasted baguette, vanilla cream, nectarine, peach in syrup, and on and on. This begs for shellfish, sushi, crab, or anything else that comes from the sea.
Also in stock: NV Damien Hugot Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru $49.99.
À votre santé!
— Philip Roufail, K&L Culver City Champagne Specialist