This Champagne Is Made With Grapes You’ve Never Heard Of

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Michelin watchers with a passing knowledge of French were no doubt driven to consult their favorite dictionary or translation app when Arbane, the brainchild of renowned chef Philippe Mille in Reims, France, received its first star from the guide. Named for a relatively obscure Champagne grape, the eatery’s flagship starter, Arbanothèque, pays tribute to the seven grapes permitted in the region’s signature bubbly. With a wine list that heavily features Champagne (with a slight detour into Burgundy), head sommelier Valentin Gallais offers diners a handful of versions of single-varietal Arbane, including Champagne Moutard 2014 Vieilles Vignes (old vines) Arbane, one of three surprising bottlings from this small family-owned domain based in the Aube region, far from the flashy houses of Epernay and Reims.

While wine lovers are well aware that Champagne is generally made with three grapes—Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier—few know that Pinot Blanc is also allowed, as are a few grapes that have almost no name recognition at all, including Arbane and Petit Meslier. Known for its old massal selections of indigenous grape varieties that were more abundantly planted in the past, Champagne Moutard is said to be the producer with the oldest vines of these different varieties in all of Champagne. In addition to vintage Arbane, Moutard also produces a bottling called Cuvée des 6 Cepages, a blend of six well-known and unfamiliar grapes, plus an equally rare single-varietal, vintage Petit Meslier.

Vineyard managers and winemakers, especially those who work with heritage grape varieties, tout the advantages of massal selection vines. The process involves taking cuttings from several vines and propagating them, which promotes genetic diversity, as opposed to cloning, in which only one vine is used, leading to uniform genetics across a vineyard. Alexandre Moutard, fourth-generation distiller and cellar master, believes he and his family are stewards of these varieties, which have almost disappeared from Champagne, as they have cultivated these almost-extinct varieties for several decades. “It is also our duty to replant massal selections like my ancestors did,” he says. It’s important to note that varieties other than Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier account for less than 1 percent of all the grapes in Champagne, and that while the exact number is not known, massal selection vines account for a very small amount of the total worldwide.

Made with equal portions of Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, Cuvée des 6 Cepages has been made every year since 2000, when Moutard’s father, François, created the first vintage. While the Moutards buy grapes from other growers for some of their larger-production, more-mainstream bottles, all the grapes for this and their single-varietal Arbane and Petit Meslier are sustainably farmed on their 54 acres of estate vineyards in the Côtes des Bar, whose Kimmeridgian soils are ideal for the cultivation of Champagne grapes. Although the bulk of their acreage bears Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines, the Moutards boast six acres of Pinot Blanc (which is also called Pinot Blanc Vrai or Blanc Vrai), 3.5 acres of Petit Meslier, 3.2 acres of Arbane, and 2.5 acres of Pinot Meunier. The average age of their vines is 40 years; Moutard’s grandfather Lucien planted the Arbane vineyard in 1952.

Gallais at Arbanothèque was first attracted to Moutard’s Champagne because of the rarity: The house not only focuses on obscure varieties but also ages its bottles for a significant period before release. The current vintage of Cuvée des 6 Cepages is 2013, and both the 2014 and 2015 Arbane are now available. Besides the ability to pair these bottles with specific dishes on the restaurant’s tasting menus, Gallais welcomes the opportunity to discuss the exclusivity of these wines with his clients, many of whom are wine lovers from other parts of the world. “It is a way to talk about autochthonous [native] grape varieties and massal selection, both of which are rare,” he says.

Moutard is not alone in its use of these varieties; a handful of houses such as Champagne Gruet, Olivier Horiot, and Drappier produce small amounts of Arbane, and the latter even has a bottling called Quattuor made with Chardonnay, Petit Messlier, Arbane, and Blanc Vrai. However, Moutard’s commitment to the old varieties is what truly stands out. In 2021, the use of hybrid grape Voltis was also added to the permitted varieties in Champagne. While its fungus-resistant nature reduces the need for pesticides and is considered an advantage in a changing climate, the house’s dedication is to old varieties and traditional agriculture, not novelty or experimental pours. “Our old family records dating back to the early 1900s list more than a dozen grape varieties,” Moutard says, including Chasselas, Melon, Auxerrois, and Pinot Gris, which are not allowed in production of Champagne.

Champagne Moutard 2013 Cuvee des 6 Cepages is pale amber in the glass. With a steady column of bubbles, it has a bouquet of green apple, rising bread dough, and holiday baking spices. Flavors of peach and nectarine merge with notes of crushed rose petal and a hint of salinity that lingers into the brilliant finish. Champagne Moutard 2015 Vieilles Vignes Arbane is light yellow to the eye and offers an enduring chain of fine bubbles. Aromas of Granny Smith apple and fresh croissant prepare the taste buds for flavors of yellow plum, Bartlett pear, toasted hazelnut, and a soft touch of chalk. Intense acidity and a closing note of salt sit down and stay awhile. While many of the more famous Champagne houses obfuscate the enormity of their output by declining to talk about quantities, Moutard made 19,488 bottles of 2013 Cuvee des 6 Cepages (plus 490 magnums and 30 jeraboams) and makes around 1,000 bottles of Arbane each year. In a world in which exclusivity is often little more than a marketing term, these are truly two of the rarest bottles of Champagne you might be able to get your hands on. If you’re lucky.

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