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Only 100 cases allocated to the U.S.market!

"There have been great ones over the years – 2002, 2008, 2012 – but none as otherworldly as the 2013 vintage, the most exquisite young Champagne I have ever tasted.

It is quite different from the ’12, but just as sublime. 2012 croons, and this one whispers. ’12 leaps like a gazelle; ’13 flaps its gossamer white wings. ’12 is clearly and tangibly great; ’13 is ethereally and hauntingly great. ’13 is a little like 2008, but with less prominent acidity; still, it’s in the family of high cirrus-y skies with mares’ tails and ice-rainbows. I wish I had four plusses to give it. Each pure beautiful element of Champagne is carefully arranged to be examined and identified, until they all melt together into Pleiades of nuance and structure. It’s an ivory-pale bride, shining with bliss and love, even through her gauzy veil.

This weightless masterpiece is 30% Pinot Noir from Mareuil (Faubourg D’enfer, Croix Blanche, Pruche and Cotes) and 25% Aÿ (Cheuzelles, Pierre Robert, and Le Leon), 35% Chardonnay old-vines from Mareuil (Beauregard, Ramonette and Buisson Saint Loup) and 10% Oiry and Chouilly (Justice and Montaigu). It is also a Coeur de Cuvée.” -Terry Theise, Importer

Jean-Paul Hébrart has been making some of the very finest wines in the Marne Valley for many years. They have long been favorites of ours and we’re seeing JP get the recognition that he deserves. Speaking to Peter Liem recently, he said “Hébrart’s wines just keep getting better and better. He’s easily one of the best growers in Champagne.” Jean-Paul will join Peter Liem’s Fête de Champagne in New York in November 2018, further recognition of his status as a leading producer.

Hébrart’s wines straddle ripe fruit character and intense soil expression, making them both complex and approachable. They are the wines you drink with people who think that they don’t like Champagne. After tasting the 2013 Club wine in February, we’ve been anxiously awaiting its release. 2013 is a vintage that recalls 2008 in its character, with an unusually long and even ripening period. Full of character and flavor – the darker fruit of Aÿ and the saltiness of Chardonnay from the Côte - but with a weightless structure which makes the wine feel effortless. It’s a brilliant edition of this wine; we only wish there was more to bring in and more to drink.

"Jean-Paul Hébrart took over the operations of Marc Hébrart Champagne in the Vallée de la Marne from his father Marc in 1997. This estate is not exactly new: Jean-Paul’s father has been producing champagne under the Marc Hébrart name since 1964 and has been a member of the Special Club since 1985. Hébrart farms 14 hectares of vines on 65 different sites in 6 villages: the 1er cru vineyards of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay, Val d’Or and Bisseuil and the grand crus villages of Aÿ as well as Chouilly and Oiry in the Côte des Blancs. Each parcel is always vinified separately in glass lined stainless steel and ceramic tanks. He is slowly phasing out the ceramic as it is more difficult to control the temperature. Hébrart is also experimenting barrel fermentation and indigenous yeast fermentation for some of his older vine parcels.

Peter Liem writes of Champagne Hébrart on Champgneguide.net: “Hébrart’s wines have a broad appeal: if you like to think about your wines, they’re intellectually engaging enough to satisfy you; on the other hand, if you’re just looking to drink, they’re simply delicious. The wines are full and generous without being weighty, complex and soil-driven without being demanding. Overall, the entire range is of consistently high quality, and represents excellent value for the money.”

"Undeniably, Mareuil should belong to the grand cru villages. Most of the vineyards reach almost the same quality as those of Aÿ. In their youth, what may distinguish a Mareuil wine from an Aÿ wine is a hawthorn-like flowery bouquet. On aging, the wines become practically impossible to tell apart." -Richard Juhlin, 4000 Champagnes