LIFE BY LEXUS 26
GROWING UP AS AN OUTSIDER TO THE CHAMPAGNE REGION, SOME WOULD SAY IT CAME AS A SURPRISE WHEN BENOIT GOUEZ WAS NAMED CHEF DE CAVE OR CELLAR MASTER AT MOËT & CHANDON IN 2005. SPEAKING TO HIM, THOUGH, IT’S OBVIOUS THAT IT WAS A PERFECTLY LOGICAL APPOINTMENT
BLENDING
SCIENCE AND SENSITIVITY
T
he fine craft of balancing centuries-old principles, a competitive environment and the gentle evolution of Champagne was handed to Benoit at the age of 35. He hadn’t planned a career in Champagne.
In fact, he thought the Champagne-making process was rather dull and repetitive, but the allure of the world’s most famous Champagne house and its ability to push for consistent change and relevance in a modern age proved irresistible. Meeting the former Head of Winemaking at Moët & Chandon, Philippe Coulon, was the fortuitous moment that changed it all. “Philippe knew he’d need to integrate younger winemakers in anticipation of
imminent retirements, although he could have waited longer,” he says. “And I was happy where I was, but there was a special connection between us.” While Philippe’s instinct to hire him was certainly
correct, Benoit struggled with the decision to move to Champagne. In fact, his entire career in viticulture was born of a combination of time, place and unforeseen circumstances. “My roots are in Brittany and I was raised in Normandy, the north-west part of France where there are no vines,” he says. “My family wasn’t especially interested in wine, so neither was I. It was only when I started studying agronomy that I realised my college was particularly famous for its specialisation in viticulture and winemaking.”
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