Vincent Couche

Vincent Couche set up on his own in 1996 at Buxeuil, in the Côte des Bar at the southern end of Champagne, and farms 15 hectares across two very different soils. He stopped using chemicals in 1998. The bottle we have, the Élégance Brut Nature, is made with no added sulphur and disgorged at zero dosage, which is a rare pair of decisions in a region built on neither.

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Buxeuil and Montgueux: fifteen hectares on two different grounds

Vincent Couche began on his own account in 1996, based at Buxeuil in the Aube, in the Côte des Bar. He is one of the growers who pushed chemical-free farming in that part of Champagne well before it was fashionable, having stopped using chemicals in 1998.

The holding is 15 hectares, and the interesting thing is that it sits on two soils rather than one. At Buxeuil there are 12 hectares, mostly Pinot Noir, on Kimmeridgian clay and limestone marl with marine fossils still in it. That is the same band that runs south into Chablis, and it is why Côte des Bar Pinot Noir tastes the way it does.

The other 3 hectares are at Montgueux, about an hour north, planted to Chardonnay on south-facing Turonian chalk. Montgueux is a single hill on its own, nowhere near the Côte des Blancs, and the chalk there gives a Chardonnay with more weight and less austerity than the famous villages.

Planting at Buxeuil runs to around 10,100 vines per hectare, which is dense even by Champagne standards and means every vine carries less fruit.

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Bottle of Vincent Couche Champagne Élégance Brut Nature with two filled glasses on a wooden table

Élégance Brut Nature, and the rest of the range

Élégance Brut Nature is the bottle we have in, and it is the one worth explaining properly.

It is 73 percent Pinot Noir to 27 percent Chardonnay, so the Buxeuil fruit leads and the Montgueux chalk fills in behind it. Around 30 percent is reserve wine aged in oak, which is what gives it depth without making it taste oaky. It rests two years on its lees and is disgorged at zero dosage.

The part that matters most: no sulphur is added at any stage. In Champagne that is genuinely difficult, because the second fermentation in bottle and the disgorgement both invite a grower to reach for it, and most do. Pour it next to a conventional Champagne and the colour tells you straight away, a deeper gold rather than pale straw.

The rest of his range, which we do not currently stock, runs to Chloé, another bottling made with no added sulphur, ADN Montgueux, a zero dosage Chardonnay off that chalk hill, the zero dosage Rosé Désir, and Sensation, released late from the cellar in magnum. He also makes a ratafia and a handful of still wines under Vin de France.

Nettle, horsetail and the lunar calendar

The vineyard work is where Couche puts his effort. Treatments are herbal preparations he makes himself, from nettle, horsetail, meadowsweet, willow and thyme, with minerals alongside. Pruning, ploughing, treating and picking are all timed to the lunar calendar, and he has worked that way since 2008.

In the cellar the ferments run on the vineyard's own yeasts and the intervention is kept deliberately light, which is the only way a no-sulphur Champagne survives the second fermentation at all.

Worth being precise rather than blanket about the sulphur, because growers differ bottle by bottle. Élégance and Chloé are the ones made with none added. Other cuvées in his range are not sold on that basis and will carry a small amount, as is normal at bottling in Champagne.

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FAQ about Champagne Vincent Couche

Where is Champagne Vincent Couche made?

At Buxeuil in the Aube, in the Côte des Bar at the southern end of Champagne. He farms 15 hectares in total, 12 of them at Buxeuil on Kimmeridgian clay and limestone marl, and 3 at Montgueux on south-facing chalk.

Does Vincent Couche Champagne contain added sulphites?

The Élégance Brut Nature we stock is made with no sulphur added at any stage, and the same is true of his Chloé. Other cuvées in the range are not sold on that basis and will carry a small amount at bottling, as is normal in Champagne. Small amounts of sulphites form naturally in any wine during fermentation.

What is in the Élégance Brut Nature?

73 percent Pinot Noir to 27 percent Chardonnay, with around 30 percent reserve wine aged in oak. It spends two years on its lees and is disgorged at zero dosage, so no sugar is added at the end. 12.5% alcohol.

What does Brut Nature mean?

That no sugar is added at disgorgement. Most Champagne gets a dosage of sugar to round it off after the lees are removed; a Brut Nature gets none, so the wine has to be ripe enough and well enough made to stand up without it.

How is Vincent Couche farmed?

Without chemicals since 1998. Treatments are herbal preparations he makes himself from nettle, horsetail, meadowsweet, willow and thyme, with minerals alongside, and the pruning, ploughing, treating and picking are timed to the lunar calendar. Planting density at Buxeuil runs to around 10,100 vines per hectare.

Why is this Champagne a deeper gold than usual?

Because no sulphur is added. Sulphur is what keeps a conventional Champagne pale and locked down; without it the wine oxidises a little more freely and the colour deepens. It is a sign of how the wine was made rather than a fault.

What else does Vincent Couche make?

Chloé, another no-sulphur bottling, ADN Montgueux, a zero dosage Chardonnay from the Montgueux chalk, the zero dosage Rosé Désir, and Sensation, released late in magnum. There is also a ratafia and some still wines under Vin de France. We do not currently stock those.