He had sold his family’s grapes to the local cooperative, where she worked as an oenologist, then in 2010 Loic Barrat and Aurelie Masson pulled out to make their own wine from their own vines. ‘Grain d’Argile’ means ‘grain of clay,’ a nod to the clay-and-chalk soils of Bethon in southern Champagne that give this cuvee its savory, wine-like depth. It’s a roughly even split of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, farmed organically and pressed the old-fashioned way in a basket press, with each parcel vinified on its own. Bone-dry Extra Brut with almost no dosage, it’s grower Champagne with nothing to hide behind.