Champagne PEHU SIMONET the art of preserving freshness

Champagne Pehu Simonet's vineyards cover 5 hectares, mostly in Verzenay: "My vines are located in the heart of the terroir. The result of skilful exchanges and transactions by the generations that preceded me. They worked well! Although David Péhu does a little trading, almost all his supplies come from his own vineyards, which gives him the assurance of working with grapes whose ripeness is in line with the style of wine he's aiming for. Indeed, David is keen to work precisely on freshness, starting right from the viticulture stage, with the development of higher trellising so as not to have to trim the vines. In addition to the benefits of aerial vine expansion for root development, this also provides more acidity.

This preservation of the grape's natural freshness - a major asset of the north-facing vineyard, from which he named one of his cuvées - means that he doesn't have to block malolactic fermentation. "I have enough acidity to let them start naturally if they have to, so I don't have to add extra sulfites In organic conversion for almost three years, Champagne Pehu Simonet has not retro-pedaled despite the unprecedented attack of mildew in the summer of 2021. "I remember when winegrowers were asked to flood Champagne with grapes. As soon as I took over, I took the opposite approach and experimented with green harvesting.

Today, we work the soil on 50% of our estate with a horse. Some people point to its higher carbon footprint, but when you're in the vineyards with it, a harmony emerges that can't be quantified! We're also developing agroforestry. There used to be orchards below the Verzenay mill. Now they've disappeared, and the hillsides lack biodiversity.

At first, I only wanted to plant local species. But we have to take global warming into account and anticipate it, otherwise we risk penalizing the survival of pollinators.