DECEMBER 2025

Domaine Méa was the first winery we visited after we decided to start what has become Champagne Happy Hour in 2021. Since then we have visited them in Champagne many times and traveled the world together. We have spent time in Burgundy, Paris and recently we hosted Franck in Illinois, Florida and New Orleans.

Domaine Méa is based in the village of Louvois in the Montagne de Reims. A village that has been bestowed the coveted Grand Cru title but has been passed over by popular demand, until now. Traditionally the neighbors to the East, Bouzy and Ambonnay, have been heaped with praise and a lot of this has to do with the fact that these villages are south facing and have the best position to ripen in the sun bathed slopes. Now, as global warming takes hold of the vineyards Louvois, South facing with its slight West tilt is now achieving this level of ripeness that has only been just around the corner for generations.

Sophie, the 5th generation of the Méa family to make wine and the second generation female. Her and her husband Franck farm 8 hectares of vines spread across 6 different villages. All of their vineyards have been converted to organic farming and they have spent the last few years refining their wine making and selection of wines. They are making some of the most exciting and new champagnes in one of the oldest and and well known regions.

The wines focus on Pinot Noir with a good heap of Chardonnay. Pinots from Louvois and Bouzy, Chardonnay from Montbré and Ludes. Sophie coaxes balance out of all of her vineyards and manitind it through the cellar and in to the bottles. They have a true vision for what their vineyards are capable of and they are exceeding anything that their contemporaries are capable of. It is not just us, but many of the in-the-know champagne crowd, are lining up to crown them the new leaders of the pack. We have been not so quielty saying this for some time.

For more information on these wines and winery click HERE

OH YEAH, the bonus bottle! Franck is a native of Bordeaux and he and his childhood best friend have come together to create their inaugural bottling in 2019. A family home, a famous bordeaux winemaker and a vineyard planted to Merlot that has never seen a single drop of chemical pesticides. The vineyard was planted in an old pasture that housed cows and chickens but underneath features the same soils as the famous Pomerol in Bordeaux. So, we humbly offer for your holiday table a red wine (crazy right?) We always decant it as we set it out on the table and share it with friends and family.

“La Rose Taillefer” Story. as told by Franck Mousie

“La Rose Taillefer” has been planted in 2007 by my Best friend Romain closed to his family house called Taillefer. Romain is a wine consultant with Stéphane Derenoncourt for 15 years, he started running Stéphanes estate: “Le Domaine de l’A” during 2 years and then moved tothe consulting team. Now he consults  more than 25 estate in the best wineregions of the world. 

 When he decided to plant vines closed to his family house in the North east of Bordeaux wine region, he asked Claude and Lydia Bourguignon (probably one of the best wine geologist) to come and
make an audit of the different possible plots. They reveals a very promising terroir with a soil structure very closed to Pomerol: beautiful Clay & Limestone with Graves veins … very suitable for Merlot ! 

The plot used to be a field for cows or chickens. In order to structure the soil and develop its life and minerality, we made a 3 years rotation of cereals plantation before planting the vines.  We are completely Organic since the beginning and are very proud to say that this plot has never seen a chemical product ! The vineyard is driven with organic cares and a lot of love. We both plow the ground and use green manures to encourage the soil life and self-defense for the vine. The stripping, the disbudding and the harvests are done by hand with precision. 

My link with this family and its wine story is very closed: we started planting together the fence around the plot, then the vines , then the first harvests, the first blends … and now our own brand with La Rose Taillefer to put the Bordeaux Flag on the top tables in
France and now in the US!