Damien Hugot's family has been growing grapes in Champagne since at least 1660. He is the 25th generation to work the same ground, and the vines show it. His Grand Cru Chardonnay parcels in Cramant and Chouilly average over 40 years of age, with the oldest plots dating to the 1930s and planted from massale selections that carry the accumulated character of the site.
Hugot and his wife Miwa run the operation themselves, almost entirely. Miwa oversees the winery, a precise, well-ordered facility on the southeastern edge of Epernay, equipped with oak foudres and small temperature-controlled tanks. The approach in the cellar is unhurried, and the reserve perpetuelles, now accumulating additional vintages each year, are central to how the wines develop their complexity over time. The estate also holds old-vine Meunier, planted by his grandfather along the border of Chavot and Monthelon. The M19, fermented entirely in barrique from only the coeur de cuvée, is a remarkable wine: rich, full-bodied, and bottled at zero dosage from some of the coldest sites in the appellation.
When we visited, we were delighted to taste through nearly every tank and barrel. The impression was of richness and generosity, a style that sits closer to Meursault than the lean, chalky register much of the Cote des Blancs defaults to. Texture, a captivating nuttiness, hints of pineapple, all held up by acidity and minerality that give the wines their shape. The old-vine mid-slope parcels were something else entirely: dense, opulent, unlike any other vin clair we had tasted. Since we began working with Damien, the wines have moved in one direction only, gaining complexity with each vintage the perpetuelles further harmonise.
These Champagnes offer an accessible luxury, and we wholeheartedly encourage you to seek them out. You will not be disappointed.