Represented by Cédric & Emmanuelle Moussé

Drive about one hour east from Paris and you’ll find yourself in Champagne. Here, in the valley of the Marne River, you’ll find the bucolic village of Cuisles that Cédric Moussé calls home and knows so well. Cédric is one of the young generation of Champagne makers and the village is where the story of his family, sometimes triumphant and sometimes tragic, has played out.

There have been 12 generations of vignerons in the Moussé family, all of them based in Cuisles, but it was Cédric’s great grandfather, Eugène Moussé, who was the first to start making Champagne under his own name back in 1923.

His son Edmond met a young woman called Micheline, the daughter of a soldier who was based near Cuisles in the last war. They married in 1953 and had three boys. The eldest, Jean-Marc, joined his father to run the family business in 1979 after completing his studies at Châtillon sur Marne. The two of them worked side-by-side until Edmond’s death in 1990.

In 2000 Jean-Marc’s son, Cédric, completed his degree from the viticultural college in Avize and then went straight off in search of new experiences. His travels took him as far afield as California but also to places nearer to home such as Château Trocard in Pomerol. On his return to Cuisles his father decided to put Cédric in charge of the vineyards.

“From 2003 until 2007 he insisted that I stay in the vineyards. He didn’t want to let me anywhere near the cellars! However Cuisles and the neighbouring villages are unique and I needed time to get to know all the different terroirs” says Cédric.

And so father and son worked together until they had the idea of building an ‘Eco-responsible’ winery.

Whenever anyone asked Jean-Marc his view on whether Meunier was a lesser quality variety than Pinot Noir or Chardonnay, he would reply:

“I couldn’t disagree more. I understand that it suits the big houses to say that because it allows them to buy lots of grapes at low prices, but it’s not true. You can make superb wines from Meunier. It has aromas that you just don’t find in other varietals. Yes, Pinot Noir is more complete and powerful, but it doesn’t have the fruitiness of Meunier. We absolutely love Meunier here.”