First of all is Jérôme Dehours himself, debonair and slow-talking, a man of exceptional lucidity and conviction. To get a sense of his uniqueness, you can read the remarkable manifesto he publishes about his enterprise, which describes every aspect of his work, down to the brand and engine size of his tractors. In 1999, he took over the domaine, began a conversion to organic viticulture, and set about building one of Champagne's first full ranges of single-parcel bottlings from his lieux-dits, a move so novel the CIVC had no rules against it, and one that is now commonplace throughout the region. Dehours sits on the Marne left bank, on a soil mosaic that changes from parcel to parcel, which is what makes Jérôme Meunier's most persuasive advocate: the variety becomes a filter through which distinct sites speak. The prevailing cashmere elegance of his range shows the fastidious care with which he works, a fact recognized by an adulatory press in France and the big houses that ask him to press their grapes.