Domaine des Marnières · Pinot Noir "Grande Marnière" 2025

Domaine des Marnières

He says it without any particular pride: when he took up winegrowing in 1995, he was truly at the vanguard, and his neighbours, fruit growers like himself, took him for a gentle dreamer. Domaine des Marnières, located in the heart of the Pays de Herve, now has 20,000 vines, with an even balance of white and red grape varieties, spread across several plots in Warsage, Aubin-Neufchâteau and Fouron-le-Comte. Benoît Heggen's wines are of remarkable quality, without any crazy price tags. Sometimes, no doubt about it, one really is allowed to be right too early... (read more)

Pinot Noir Grande Marnière

Benoît Heggen limits his yields to 25 hl/ha in order to draw the best expression from the fruit and not have to, as he puts it, "fiddle around in the cellar". He carries out the malolactic fermentation of his Pinot Noir in stainless steel tanks and limits ageing to a maximum of 6 months in oak barrels (new or used, French or Belgian).

For a few years now, he has been selling two Pinot Noirs: the "Al Voye" cuvée, from the 3,000 Pinot Noir vines of the Al Voye del Heydt plot (to be pronounced with the local accent, if you please), planted in 2019 in Warsage (clay and chalk soil); and the "Grande Marnière" cuvée, from the plot planted in 2011 in Aubin (chalky soil).

Benoît Heggen is the first Walloon winegrower to have embraced the short-supply-chain vision of Barwal, founded by two wine enthusiasts to offer a local, high-quality alternative to the French oak barrels usually used by Belgian winegrowers. So it is in his cellar that the very first barrel stamped "Belgian barrel from the state forest of Rochefort" takes pride of place! Others have joined it since.

We recommend letting this 2025 "Grande Marnière" rest in the bottle for a few more months... or even forgetting it in your cellar for a year. It will only get better!