THE JOURNAL | FOOD & DRINK
The Quiet Luxury of Grower Champagne
Wine writer Victoria Daskal meets eighth-generation winegrower Benoît Dehu to talk terroir, tradition and his devotion to Pinot Meunier...
Fashion insiders have long understood that true quality is often found far from the glare of global luxury corporations. While Louis Vuitton, Dior, Celine and Loewe instantly signal status, their premium price points can appear less convincing when considering individuality, sustainability and provenance. For this reason, knowledgeable aesthetes gravitate towards smaller, independent designers whose personal histories, technical mastery and narrow specialisation result in objects that are distinctive and rare.
A similar dynamic exists in Champagne.
The Grandes Marques such as Moët & Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon are global superstars. All are owned by LVMH, the same empire that dominates much of the luxury fashion world. As with couture, the price reflects not just the Champagne, but the branding that keeps these names aspirational.
Yet there is little appetite for framing this as outright opposition. “The big houses are very important,” says Champagne grower, Benoît Déhu. “If they didn’t exist, the world would not know the name Champagne.” Their role has been to build global recognition through scale and consistency. “Moët & Chandon makes millions of bottles. We make very few. It’s not the same job — and it can’t be.”
Those in the know increasingly turn their attention elsewhere, to Grower Champagne. These wines are made by small, independent producers who work their own land and vinify on a modest scale, prioritising terroir over uniformity. Many work organically or biodynamically, favour minimal intervention and are motivated less by volume than by precision. “It’s not possible for a big house to work parcel by parcel,” Benoît explains. “It’s too small. But for winegrowers, this is exactly where our identity comes from.”
This shift marks a broader change in how Champagne is understood. “For a long time, Champagne was about blending — parcels, grapes, years,” says Benoît. “Now people want terroir, the real story — not marketing, but truth.” The evolution is clear in how visitors engage with the region.
Twenty years ago, they only went underground to see the cellars. Now they want to walk the vines.
Benoît Dehu
The philosophy aligns naturally with Firmdale Hotels, whose distinctive interiors are matched by an equally thoughtful approach to their wine lists. The group favours producers with strong identities and a clear commitment to craft, focusing on artisan wines made by growers and their families, alongside organic viticulture and low-intervention winemaking.
It is therefore fitting that Firmdale has aligned itself with Benoît Déhu, an eighth-generation Champagne producer from the Vallée de la Marne. Having trained at Bollinger before returning to his family estate, Benoît now produces around 40,000 bottles annually and has been certified organic since 2020. His domaine remains part of a still-small minority, with just 624 organic estates representing 5.1 percent of Champagne.
Firmdale is the only place in the UK to serve three of Benoît’s Champagnes exclusively: the Tradition Extra Brut NV, the Rosé Prestige NV, and the Millésime 2014, a limited release of just 5,000 bottles, aged six to eight years on its lees (the yeast cells left over from the fermentation process) before disgorgement in December 2021. Such scarcity is intrinsic to Grower Champagne. “The bottles are very limited,” Benoît says. “Everybody wants them.”
Get to Know Our Blends
Our house signature is a beautifully balanced Champagne with notes of toast, cream, and toffee popcorn created by spending three years on lees. A majority Pinot Meunier blend, it’s lifted by fresh red fruit and crisp green and red apple.
A light-footed pink Champagne with vibrant red fruit on the nose, followed by layers of strawberry, raspberry, and boysenberry. Three years on the lees creates subtle hints of toast and cream without compromising it's delicacy.
With seven years on lees, this vintage Champagne combines rich, creamy complexity with fresh acidity and minerality. While remaining loyal to Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay contributes elegance and longevity to the blend.
Benoît Dehu is best known for his devotion to Pinot Meunier, long regarded as Champagne’s supporting grape. “For a long time, people said Meunier was a bad grape,” he says. “Heavy. Not serious.” Historically planted in the clay-rich soils of the Marne Valley, Meunier was often diluted by high yields and masked by dosage. Benoît’s approach is radically different. From his prized 1.7-hectare parcel, La Rue des Noyers, he produces single-vineyard, single-vintage, zero-dosage Champagnes, often fewer than 4,000 bottles.
“If you work Meunier well, it is a top-grade variety,” he asserts. “In a blind tasting, it’s very difficult to say it is 100 percent Meunier.” More provocatively, Benoît argues that Meunier is Champagne’s most authentic grape. “Chardonnay and Pinot Noir exist all over the world,” he says. “Meunier is truly a Champagne grape.”
As climate change accelerates, this intimacy with land and season is becoming not only philosophical but essential. Benoît has invested in agroforestry, planting trees among his vines to protect biodiversity and moderate heat. “If you don’t have good grapes, you have no wine,” he says. “Everything starts there.”
In a world dominated by scale, image and spectacle, Grower Champagne offers a quieter luxury, one rooted in authenticity, place and meaning.
About Victoria Daskal
Victoria Daskal is a wine writer, educator and consultant. Former Managing Editor of The World of Fine Wine, she contributes to leading publications such as the Financial Times and Decanter, judges international competitions, and teaches at WSET School London. She is passionate about curating tastings and cultural wine journeys, interpreting wine through history, culture and the arts.