HOX and HOXXOH cuvées are, above all, true Champagnes grown by a winegrower. We've been working our vineyard in Venteuil, a few kilometers from Epernay in the historic birthplace of Champagne, for over a century. The vineyards run alongside the Marne and benefit from an exceptional subsoil. A delicate blend of Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous.
In addition to this exceptional subsoil, our Champagne region is characterized by a rigorous vine-growing climate. Cold, harsh winters and hot, even scorching, springs and summers make the vines and the men who work them suffer. It is in this climate of extreme rigor that the vines express their full potential, producing the very best of themselves and one of the most prestigious Champagne.
Thanks to complete control over production, we can offer you exceptional Champagnes. Our 15-hectare vineyard is located in the historic cradle of Champagne, in the commune of Venteuil, a few minutes west of Épernay and the famous Hautvillers Abbey. Each of our actions is carefully thought out to obtain the best quality grapes, while allowing the full beauty of our terroir to express itself. We plough our land in the autumn and play with weeds to regulate the vigour of our vines and limit disease. In this way, we can practically dispense with insecticides, weed-killers and herbicides. All our interventions during the growing season are determined according to the disease tolerance threshold, so that no treatment is systematic and the dose is adapted to the plant using the best agricultural technologies. In addition, the estate discharges no effluent and recycles all its waste. We use dried seaweed, which reduces the use of phytosanitary products (reduction of leaching) on the leaves and stimulates the vine's immune system. This approach will naturally lead us to offer organic cuvées in the years to come. These practices enable us to rank among the estates that use the least treatments, with the lowest Treatment Frequency Indices in the Champagne region. Aeration of the soil through ploughing and grassing encourages vine rooting and microbial life. When rooting is deep, the terroir's imprint is stronger than that of the grape variety. That's why the deeper the root system, the more it extracts nutrients from the terroir, guaranteeing grape quality. This variety of expression gives each of our cuvées its own personality and identity.
Of course, harvesting is done by hand. Our team of perfectly trained grape-pickers sort each bunch directly in the vineyard. Any grapes that don't meet our quality criteria are removed one by one and discarded at the foot of the vines. Their organic matter will nourish the coming harvest. A second visual inspection takes place at the end of each row before the grapes are taken to the winery. We also carry out table sorting for Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, in order to produce our Coteau Champenois, which will be used to make our rosés.
Each plot is then pressed separately, using a latest-generation coquard press. This allows a very large pressing surface, and therefore very little pressure on the harvest. This technology ensures excellent self-filtration of the pomace, and very low oxidation of the musts. In order to use only the noblest part of the grapes, we use only the first two presses (called the "coeur de cuvée"), i.e. 59% of the total juice. This guarantees exceptional wines for HOX and HOXXOH. Finally, after clarification, the juice flows directly into our winery by natural gravity.
The clarified musts are put into fermentation vats separately, grape variety by grape variety, cru by cru and plot by plot, to be vinified into white wine. Our ultra-modern, thermo-controlled vat room enables us to optimize alcoholic fermentation, and depending on the cuvée, malolactic fermentation.
Our winery contains reserve wines from dozens of vintages, enabling us to make extremely precise horizontal and vertical blends. Raphaël, the cellar master, validates each cuvée with our oenologist and our tasting committee made up of Champagne's greatest experts.
It's in our century-old cellar, from the spring following the harvest, at a temperature of 11°C, that the liqueur de tirage, made from cane sugar and yeast, is added to the wine, causing a second fermentation and the wine to foam in the bottle. Under the action of the yeast, the sugar in the liqueur de tirage is transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which dissolves in the wine and creates the foam (gas pressure reaches 6 atmospheres). The lees in the bottle (yeast waste and mineral salts) release all the aromas specific to our different cuvées.
The lees are removed before the champagne bottle is sold (riddling and disgorging operations).
All our cuvées remain on laths for a minimum of 36 months before disgorging.
HOXXOH Bottles
Each of our vintages has a unique design and its own character. It takes nearly an hour to make each bottle entirely by hand. We use noble materials such as gold and natural rubies, giving our Champagne the unique appearance it deserves. With no time constraints, we pay close attention to every detail.
In addition, each bottle contains our famous Bubble-Light, allowing each HOXXOH bottle to be fully illuminated and to follow the beat of the music.
Hox bottles
At the request of our customers, connoisseurs of fine Champagnes, we have created the HOX range. You'll find our Champagne served in a bottle in its simplest form. Just a tassel to remind you of the "haute couture" spirit that guides us in its elaboration, and that's all!
Name
HOXXOH draws its essence from geometry. No matter how you look at the world, whether you read from left to right, right to left or even with your head upside down, the magic of HOXXOH always occurs. All living beings have the HOX gene, it gives symmetry to our bodies. By putting it in the mirror, we create a symmetry breaker to transgress established codes. Also, if you look closely, you will find the symbol of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon (doubled in the X). The components of the alcohol molecule, dear to our hearts!
When it comes to HOX cuvées, we've opted for simplicity, in "haute couture" mode.
Our History
One August morning, on the French Riviera, we were coming back from a party, just as the pine forests were waking up...The sun draped the sky in sumptuous shades of pink, plunging in a sparkling rain into the turquoise sea. All our senses were awakened, and our hearts were still beating to the rhythm of an unforgettable St Tropez night. With a bottle of champagne in hand, we were happy. How could we make this feeling last forever? How could we keep our minds happy and carefree once we were back home? Spoken as a joke, the answer came quickly: "We should put all these colors in the bottle!".
Several years later, we gave rise to the HOXXOH cuvée. It is with great pleasure that we share with you a champagne that makes your taste buds smile, and color your mind!
After 5 years, we launched the HOX cuvées at the request of Michelin-starred restaurants. The adventure continues and the story is written around exceptional Champagnes.
Kind regards,
Macha and Grégoire
