Hoerter Michel

Michel Hoerter's Champagne passionately recounts the love of a family of recoltant manipulants for the vines and their terroir champenoise, a knowledge that has been passed down among the Hoerters for no less than four generations. It all begins with the founder, Joseph, who began working small vineyard plots to resell his grapes for vinification to other maisons, an activity ceased by his son Maurice, who was actually the first of the Hoerters to process their grapes in-house, sparkling them and marketing them directly as finished Champagnes. The winery then passed into the hands of Michel, who greatly expanded both the product range and the scale of exports, thus making his Champagnes known around the world. Now it is the turn of Jean-Philippe, who, with the help of his wife Valerie, firmly upholds the philosophy of recoltant manipulant, to ensure a quality product without necessarily going overboard with costs.

The terroir from which Hoerter Champagnes come is located exclusively in the western area of the Marne Valley: the maison has 9 hectares planted with vineyards that are rooted in soils mainly composed of limestone, clay and chalk in the upper parts, supplemented by sand inserts at the base of the slopes. The grape varieties planted are the classic ones of the area with a higher percentage of Pinot Meunier (70%), followed by Pinot Noir (22%) and Chardonnay (8%). The viticulture practiced has been sustainable for more than 16 years, with practices of grassing the rows, limited leaf thinning, mechanical mowing and use of compost of exclusive bovine origin, all with total respect for nature.

The Maison Michel Hoerter produces Champagne in the Marne Valley while maintaining excellent quality/price while respecting environmental sustainability, points also summarized by the meaning of their logo: the "petite vendangeuse" (small grape harvester) represents the symbol of tradition, hard work, simplicity and generosity and describes a key point of the work of the recoltant manipulant, i.e., the harvest, where the result of a whole year's work of toil and dedication is seen.