93 points Wine Advocate
Crafted in equal parts from the 2021 vintage and a perpetual reserve component dating back to 2003, Benoît Lahaye's NV Brut Nature Grand Cru is sourced from holdings in Bouzy and Ambonnay, which share similar geology. Comprising 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay, it was disgorged in November 2024 without dosage. The bouquet reveals notes of pear, toasted hazelnut and dried flowers. On the palate—shaped by the cool growing season of the base vintage—it is medium-bodied and vividly fresh yet concentrated, with a bright spine of acidity, a pillowy mousse and a lingering, saline-inflected finish. This cuvée accounts for one-quarter of the domaine’s total production.

New projects emerge with striking regularity in the Montagne de Reims, yet Benoît Lahaye remains a reference point—not only within the broader Champagne subregion but also, and most notably, in the village of Bouzy.

Benoît Lahaye has been producing wine at his five-hectare Bouzy domaine since 1993, although the estate existed long before, previously selling its fruit to a cooperative. Just a few years after taking over the estate, he began experimenting with organic and biodynamic farming. Certified organic since 2007 and biodynamic since 2010, Lahaye plows one-third of his Bouzy vineyards with his own horse, Tamise.

The vineyard holdings are spread across several villages, with three hectares in Bouzy, one hectare in Ambonnay and the remainder in Tauxières and Vertus. The soils in Bouzy are relatively shallow, with between 20 centimeters to one meter of clay-limestone before the roots reach chalk.

The wines are vinified entirely in 228-liter barrels (employing steel tanks only for settling), mostly from Burgundy’s cooperages, Taransaud and François Frères, with around 5% of the barrels renewed each year. Today, barrels are always purchased new and reused, never second-hand, though the oldest barrels in the cellar date back to 1998. Reserve wines for the NV Brut Nature are stored in 16- and 25-hectoliter foudres, with a perpetual reserve started in 2003. In 2025, Lahaye completed new building work, including a cellar (which they plan to connect to the old underground cellar, located eight meters away), as well as space for bottling and disgorgement, allowing for further refinements and precision.

Harvested at full maturity and vinified without chaptalization, they see comparatively long élevages of 11 months on the lees—with full malolactic fermentation—before tirage. After maturation sur lattes, the wines are disgorged with minimal dosage or none at all. Sulfites are added only after pressing, though some cuvées, like Violaine and Blanc de Blancs, are vinified entirely without sulfites.

The range begins with a racy, fresh and excellent NV Brut Nature, while the Blanc de Noirs (from four parcels within a 50-meter radius) and the Blanc de Blancs (from a single parcel in Voipreux) are two mono-cépage bottlings. The range typically reaches its apogee with their vintage-dated cuvées: Millésime, from an old-vine southeast-facing parcel that captures all the power of Bouzy; Violaine, a concentrated and flamboyant cuvée made without added sulfites and dosage; and Le Jardin de la Grosse Pierre, crafted from a single lieu-dit co-planted with seven grape varieties between 1927 and 1952. The domaine also produces an excellent, gastronomic Rosé de Macération, sourced from the lieu-dit Les Juliennes in Bouzy.

Concentrated and incisive, these are profound Champagnes produced by one of the region’s most exceptional farmers.

92 points Vinous Media
Drinking window: 2024 - 2030
The NV Brut Nature Grand Cru is a blend of 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay from Bouzy and Ambonnay. The creamy flesh of Red Delicious apples and a sense of springy, sweet, yeasty challah bread define the nose. The sprightly mousse prickles on the smoot palate, highlighting saltiness and chalky depth with an enticing, beguiling tang of oyster shell. The finish is alluring, salty, tangy and long with a visceral umami echo. Disgorged: February, 2023. - Anne Krebiehl MW