Champagne Alexis Limar - Les Pieds dans la Terre - Brut Nature 2022
In La Neuville-aux-Larris, in the Marne Valley, Alexis Limar is one of those young Champagne winemakers whose first cuvées quickly attracted the attention of lovers of sincere and lightly made champagnes. Trained at the Viti Campus in Avize, he took over his grandfather's family vineyards and founded his own estate in 2023 alongside Jeanne Limar. The vineyard, about three hectares, stretches between La Neuville-aux-Larris, Cuchery, Belval-sous-Châtillon, and Mailly-Champagne Grand Cru, offering a rare diversity of soils and exposures for such a small estate. The work in the vineyard is manual, precise, without herbicides or pesticides, with strong attention paid to soil life and the just ripeness of the grapes. In the cellar, the approach remains deliberately low-intervention, with spontaneous fermentations, no fining, no filtration, and aging aimed at preserving the natural tension of the wines. Les Pieds dans la Terre lives up to its name: this cuvée claims proximity to the soil, the winemaker's gesture, and the direct expression of the grape. It fits into an artisanal style of champagne, slender, mineral, and deeply rooted in the Marne Valley.
This Brut Nature 2022 cuvée brings together the three Champagne grape varieties, Chardonnay, Meunier, and Pinot Noir, in a structure that seeks balance rather than showmanship. Chardonnay brings momentum, lemony tension, and a more vertical sensation, while Meunier inscribes the wine in the restrained indulgence of the Marne Valley. Pinot Noir completes the ensemble with a more vinous base, a discreet structure, and a depth of mouth that gives the champagne more body. The absence of dosage places the wine in a clear expression, without added sugar to artificially round out the matter. This choice requires precise grape ripeness and clean vinification, as Brut Nature leaves little room for approximation. The 2022 vintage brings ripe flesh, but Alexis Limar's style maintains a fresh, almost stony line that avoids any heaviness. Les Pieds dans la Terre 2022 thus stands out for its direct character, its frank fruit, and this sensation of a winemaker's champagne that prefers the vibration of the place to the cellar effect.
The color presents itself in a clear and luminous gold, animated by a fine effervescence, more energetic than creamy. The nose evokes fresh apple, pear, ripe lemon, and some nuances of white flowers, then reveals more discreet notes of blond bread, fresh almond, and wet stone. On the palate, the attack is lively, precise, with bubbles that give rhythm without overpowering the wine. The matter remains slender, tense, but Meunier and Pinot Noir bring enough flesh to avoid any austerity. The finish, dry and saline, extends notes of citrus, white fruits, and chalk, with a very clear sensation of purity. This champagne will accompany very well fleshy oysters, sea bream tartare, just-seared langoustines, ceviche, Comté gougères, or lemony poultry. Served around 9 to 10°C, in a fairly open glass, it will gain precision after a few minutes and better reveal its mineral tension.
Grape varieties: Chardonnay, Meunier, Pinot Noir
