Wine Like Any Other: Small Scale Vignerons Unlock Champagne and Catalunya Sparkling Wine’s Full Depth and Diversity of the Regions’ Terroir

Saturday Sips: In-Store Tasting: Bubbles (What Else?) to Ring In the New Year

It’s easy to think of Champagne as a spiritual substance; after all, it was created by monks and the very airiness of its identity seems celestial. The cornerstone of biodynamics is a view of the vineyard, and its subsequent produce, as a singular organism capable of self-healing and self-propagation. Natural material alone sustains the soil; chemical fertilizers and pesticides are forbidden and range of animals creating a rich, fertile environment for the vines to thrive in.

In the fertile environment of our Birmingham storefront, we invite all of our customers to sample some of our prized Champagnes from our favorite sub-regions, which may not get the same love as the prestige Houses, but which are defining Champagne Nouveau—the wave of the future. Join us as our guests on Friday, December 27 and Saturday, December 28 to toast that future.

Cheers!

Elie

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At this tumultuous year’s end, we offer a cerebral celebration—a roster of sparkling wines that not only possess soul, but a sophisticated modern mindset. Vignerons in France and Spain have recalibrated their thinking on effervescence, combining age-old wisdoms and updated technologies to create wines that revel in the simple joy of personal expression.

Globally, winemakers are facing the inevitable upheaval of changing markets and changing climates, and to cope, a younger generation has adopted a new way of viewing the old narrative. In Champagne especially, the focus is shifting from uniformity to specificity, and improved farming has become ultra-important in a region that had long disregarded it. Terroir trumpets are being sounded as never before by men and women who, a decade ago, weren’t even making Champagne. As the old guard slowly yields ground, the future of the region is far different than its past might have suggested.

A similar cataclysm of thought is happening in Cava. Unlike Champagne, Cava refers to a style, not a place (namely, Spanish sparkling wine produced via the traditional Champagne method), but that style is undergoing a metamorphosis. Rising above its existential crisis as a cheap fizz meant to lubricate bottomless brunches, a new wave of enólogos are rebelling against the high-volume, low-quality juggernaut that has represented Cava production in the past. They are refining their approach to both agriculture and cellar to create unclassifiable sparkling wines that combine savory depth with the raw energy of innovation.

In 2025, we will continue our quest to reveal the mysteries of such sparkling wines, a style that is meant for contemplation and much as celebration. It is remarkable to watch a wine with roots in the past leaf out into the future.

A Sense of Clarity: Recalibrating Champagne’s Wines

‘Vin Clair’ is a term that even has Champagne aficionados scurrying for the wine dictionary, but it’s being spoken with increasing frequency in tasting rooms throughout Champagne. It means ‘clear wine’ and is the raw stuff that exists before the bubbles, and with each passing vintage, the ‘stuff’ is becoming less and less raw. Usually made in small batches, it is the fermented must from sub-regions, crus, vineyards and small parcels that serve as the palette from which the cellar master draws color for the final blend.

In this era, the characteristics of the individual barrels is coming into greater focus as blending—however common it remains in Champagne—is slowly become somewhat passé to cutting-edge cellar masters eager to express individual terroirs. These are the récoltants—grape growers who produce wine from their own fruit.

In the past, vin clairs were best left as a forethought, not worth sampling for anyone but a blender; for the most part, they tended to be shockingly sharp with acidity and as informative to the palate as lemon juice despite being the backbone from which the world’s greatest Champagnes are built. But climate change is working a strange magic in wine country, and in Champagne, that translates into consistently warmer vintages. The region’s dual climate influences, continental and oceanic, exaggerate this effect, bringing more extreme weather. But in warmer growing seasons—those not beset by storms—the ‘framework’ vin clairs are more palatable, and better reflect their places of origin. This is a phenomenon that coincides with the consumer and the grower/producer’s fascination with individual terroirs and has led to a movement away from homogenous ‘house style’ Champagnes toward wines that announce a clear sense of place. In addition, regions and grape varieties once marginalized by climatic conditions like altitude and latitude are now producing wines of considerable depth and quality.

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Côte-des-Bar: Champagne’s Rebel South

Since the Côte des Bar is the Aube’s only significant wine producing area, the two names are generally interchangeable in winemaking discussions. ‘Aube’ translates to ‘dawn’, so it is fitting that this district is Champagne’s rising star. In part this is because of the district’s push towards a culture of artisanal, experimental, terroir-driven Champagne. Situated further south than the other four regions, it is less prone to frost and the Pinot Noirs of the Aube are rich and fruit-driven. Although the district is devoid of Grand or Premier Cru vineyards, since the 1950s, grapes grown there have formed a vital backbone of the blend produced by many of the top Champagne houses.

Perhaps the lack of a historical reputation means that the AOP has less to lose, but the overall mindset of the region encourages mavericks, which in tradition-heavy Champagne is rarely seen. It is these independent winemakers that are primarily responsible for district’s mushrooming growth, which now makes up almost a quarter of the entire Champagne region.

The vines of the Côte des Bar can be found scattered patches within two main districts, the Barséquenais, centered on Bar-sur-Seine, and the Barsuraubois, centered on Bar-sur-Aube.

Helping to forge the region’s new identity is a crew of younger grower/producers, many of whom have traveled abroad and trained in other winemaking regions. As a result, they tend to focus more on individuality; single-variety, single-vintage, and single-vineyard Champagnes from the Côte des Bar are quite common. Not only that, but land remains relatively inexpensive, which encourages experimentation.

Even though many of Côte des Bar’s Champagnes are 100% Pinot Noir, styles can differ markedly from producer to producer, bottling to bottling and, of course, from vintage to vintage.

• Côte-des-Bar •

Villages Buxières-sur-Arce & Ville-sur-Arce

 

Champagne Vouette & Sorbée

Bertrand, Hélène and Héloïse Gautherot
Champagne Radicalism

Bertrand Gautherot is such a believer in site specific Champagne that he named his House after it—or rather, after them: Vouette and Sorbée are two of his favorite lieux-dits. Once a grower from Buxières-sur-Acre in the hills south of the medieval town of Troyes, he took a cue from friends Jérôme Prévost and Pierre Larmandier, first converting his vineyards to biodynamics (he received Demeter certification in 1998), then, in 2001, taking the massive step of bottling and releasing wine under his own label.

He knows what he has, too: “Unlike the vineyards in the north of Champagne,” he says, “with their fine chalky soils, the Côte des Bar is more like Chablis with dense, rocky, Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone clay soils.”

Pinot Noir had long dominated the region, but Bertrand has slowly expanded his plantings of Chardonnay. He farms about thirteen acres divided among six lieux-dits, with five of them located near his hometown of Buxières and one in the neighboring village of Ville-sur-Acre. A farmer to his core, in addition to the vines he raises chickens and cattle (which he refers to as ‘his marketing department’) and operates a nearly self-sustaining enclosed ecosystem.

Bertrand Gautherot, Vouette & Sorbée

Of the two prized plots he inherited from his father, Gautherot says, “Vouette is located immediately behind my house. It on a south-facing slope that transitions from Kimmeridgian limestone at the bottom to Portlandian at the top. After the 2014 vintage, I pulled out the Pinot Noir and replanted it Chardonnay. Sorbée is at the top of the hill where Vouette is situated and where the soils are entirely Portlandian. This is a more level site with a slight southwestern exposure. The Pinot Noir vines here are between 30 and 45 years old. For generations, the grapes grown here were used to make my family’s everyday drinking wine, so this site has never been commercially farmed.”

To best showcase the muscularity of these sites, Bertrand’s range is made entirely from hand-harvested grapes and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak barrels—fûts de chêne. Nothing is chaptalized, filtered or acidified; there are no cold macerations only a miniscule amount of SO2 is added right after the grapes are pressed. Bertrand prefers to make wines as transparent as possible, so he doesn’t use liqueur de l’expedition.

Having placed Buxières-sur-Acre on the wine map, Gautherot maintains that biodynamics—along with all farming techniques—is a tool, not a religion. “The culture of the vine is my passion,” he says. “but you don’t drink a wine because it’s biodynamic, you drink it because it’s good.”

Champagne Vouette & Sorbée ‘Fidèle’, Côte-des-Bar Blanc-de-Noirs Brut-Nature ($99)
The name Fidèle indicates the faithfulness with which it expresses its places of origin. It shows bright, fruit-forward sparkle with a mineral undercurrent. It is 100% Pinot Noir from the lieux-dits Fonnet and Briaunes where vines average 25 years old; the final blend contains 5% reserve wine. It is fermented in oak on native yeasts before spending 20 months sur latte.

The wine was disgorged on November 2022 and dosed at 0 grams per liter.

Champagne Vouette & Sorbée ‘Blanc d’Argile’, Côte-des-Bar Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($125)
Pure Chardonnay from the Biaunes vineyard in the village of Ville-sur-Arce where Kimmeridgian marl dominates. At 15 years old, the vines are still young, accounting for the small production of this wine, which was hand-harvested and fermented in oak before spending 18 months on the lees. It has been likened to a Grand Cru Chablis with bubbles, showing a salty minerality underscored with apple and nougat. Disgorged September 2023 with zero dosage.

Champagne Vouette & Sorbée ‘Blanc d’Argile’, Côte-des-Bar Blanc-de-Blancs Brut-Nature ($250) 1.5 L
The same wine as above, only in magnum size. Disgorged April 2024 with zero dosage.

Petite Montagne-de-Reims: The Expression of Terroir

In French, the word ‘petite’ often to refers to a ‘lesser’ commodity, but with La Petite Montagne, the reference is to elevation. This lower elevation means warmer weather, even in Champagne’s northerly climate, and in certain villages, the soils contain more sand, making it an ideal environment for growing Meunier.

Meunier accounts for approximately half of the plantings in the Petite Montagne, with Pinot Noir making up 35% and the rest Chardonnay. It is a growing conviction among growers of the modern era that Meunier is a Champagne grape whose time has come, especially as an age-worthy variety. Emmanuel Brochet of Villers-aux-Noeuds says: “People claim that Meunier ages too quickly, even faster than Chardonnay. I disagree. The curve of evolution is different. Meunier is quick to open and more approachable in youth, but then it becomes quite stable. Chardonnay tends to open later, but old Meunier remains very fresh and lively.”

• Petite Montagne-de-Reims •

Premier Crus Village Écueil & Les Mesneux

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon

Géraldine Lacourte and Richard Desvignes
Terroir Evangelism 

The transition from simply growing grapes to becoming a winemaker who ferments their own crop is taking modern sensibilities by storm, but the family of Géraldine Lacourte took the leap in 1947. Géraldine says, “The Lacourtes on my father’s side and the Godbillons on my mother’s side once sold all their harvest to the major Champagne Houses. It was, perhaps, not a labor of love so much as a labor of survival—my grandmother talked about being in vineyards from five in the morning until eight at night, with the children joining them after school. Then in 1947, shortly after returning from the war, they began a new adventure: Producing and marketing champagne under the names Lacourte-Labasse and Godbillon-Marie. So popular was their wine that they were soon filling their customers’ car boots with bulk orders!”

Géraldine’s parents took the reins in 1968 and established the Champagne Lacourte-Godbillon label. “At first it was no more than a few thousand bottles. Bottling and disgorgement would be done at the back of a courtyard. But the most important thing was my father’s understanding that the best Champagne was made only from top quality work in the vineyard. His whole career was dedicated to this ethos.”

Géraldine Lacourte and Richard Desvignes, Champagne Lacourte Godbillon

In 2006, she and her husband Richard Desvignes left urban jobs and returned to their ancestral roots: “Our 21 acres of vineyards is planted 85% to Pinot Noir and 15% to Chardonnay, all of it in Écueil except for just 1.2 acres in the neighboring village of Les Mesneux. Our vines have an average age of 30 years.”

Richard explains, “Winemakers from all over the Montagne district have long bought Pinot Noir vine plants from Écueil. There was even a school here where they could learn how to graft these stocks. Up until a few years ago we bought our Pinot Noir plants from the local nursery, but going forward, we will be implementing our own ‘massale selection’ of the best plants for cuttings in our own parcels of vines, in order to preserve this heritage.”

The terroir is characterized by an incredibly diverse sub-soil. Some parts are predominantly sandy over the deep chalk, others composed of ‘sparnacian’ clay and shallow chalk at the bottom of the hillsides, similar to the soils of Les Mesneux.

Reframing Champagne: Single Village Premier Cru Écueil

Écueil is one of a string of Premier Cru villages that extend along the slopes of La Petite Montagne. The commune itself has a scant three hundred citizens and covers 1700 acres, of which slightly under four hundred are planted to grape vines. Unlike many of the surrounding villages, Écueil is a Pinot Noir stronghold; Pinot Noir represents 76% of the commune’s production, the remainder being split equally between Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.

The growers of Écueil are often the lords of tiny holdings, many passed down through generations; they cultivate them meticulously and are deeply connected to their land. As a result, they can boast an intellectual understanding every corner of their vineyards and the personal nuances of the family terroir. To blend away these subtleties with adulterations from other plots, other villages, seems almost silly to those of us who appreciate the reflection of origin.

Single village Champagnes, or ‘monocrus,’ are coming into vogue for this very reason.

The vineyards of Écueil are mostly east-facing, but the several lieux-dits have more southerly exposures. These highly-prized sites have a considerable percentage of sand mixed in with the clay, offering the wines power, lift and elegance. An individual vineyard may have select plots as soils vary from sand atop deep chalk at the top of the slope to clay over shallow chalk at the bottom.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘Terroirs d’Ecueil’, Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Extra-Brut ($58)
85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay grown on the characteristic silty loam soils of Écueil. The wine is a blend of vintages; 47% from 2020, which spent nine months on the lees, and 53% reserve wine from 2019 and 2018. The wine is crisp and racy with acidity, showing notes of citrus, brioche toast and lime zest.

It was bottled July 2021, disgorged on January 2024 and dosed at 3.5 grams per liter, with production at 36,300 bottles.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ”Terroirs Épanouis #2’, Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Extra-Brut ($99)
‘Épanouis’ is a dual meaning word, both of which apply: It translates to ‘blossoming’ and ‘contented.’ 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay using a base of 44% 2016 reserve, which spent nine months on the lees enhanced with 56% reserve wine from 2015 and 2014. The wine is aromatic with a powerful nose showing toasted almonds and candied fruits, broad and sublime on the palate.

Bottled in July 2016; disgorged January 2024 and dosed at 1.5 grams per liter. A scant production of one thousand bottles.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘Mi-Pentes’, Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Blanc de Noirs Extra-Brut ($71)
‘Mi-Pentes’ is a French term meaning ‘mid-slope,’ and this is the location of the vines that make up this pure Pinot Noir from Écueil. The wine is a blend of 66% wine from the 2020 vintage which spent nine months on the lees (44% in large oak foudres) and the rest from 2019 reserve.

Bottled in July 2021, using the old ‘tirage sur liège’ method, in which (instead of crown caps) the bottles are sealed with natural cork for their all-important second fermentation; the porosity of the cork allows the wine to mature longer on the lees and thus develop more complexity over a considerable period. Flecks of amber in the hue reflect barrel contact; the wine shows peach, nectarine and toasted nuts.

Disgorged in May 2024 and dosed at 2.5 grams per liter.
Production: 4650 Bottles

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘R’, Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Rosé Extra-Brut ($64)
‘R’ for rosé; 100% Pinot Noir with 6% vin rouge. 55% from the 2021 vintage, which spent nine months sur-lie—40% in large oak barrels—blended with 45% 2020 reserve wine. It was bottled in July 2022 and disgorged May 2024 with 3 grams per liter dosage. The wine shows spicy notes of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger mingling with blood orange and raspberries.

Production: 5360 Bottles

Precise Champagne: Écueil’s Single Parcels, Lieux-dits

The ‘parcellaire’ approach takes microscopic expressions of a single village even further; site-specific Champagnes celebrate the terroir of an individual vineyard, or even a named portion of a single vineyard, a lieu-dit. In Burgundy, this is common practice; in Champagne (lacking the pervasive marketing tactics of the Grand Marques) it remains an anomaly.

But the consumer will-out, and if these wines take hold of the public’s imagination as firmly as they have done in Burgundy, this style may well dictate the future, especially among those of us who insist that wine reflect the minutia of the soil in which it originates.

The Écueil lieux-dits mentioned above consist of the following:

Les Aillys; a vineyard site immediately to the north of the village itself. Most of the site is south-facing on a gentle slope.

Les Chaillots; a vineyard site in the northern part of Écueil, northwest of the village itself, on the border to Sacy. The site is located in the upper part of the slope, but is rather flat.

Derrière Moutier; an east-facing site situated in the slope immediately above the graveyard, to the west and northwest of it.

Les Gillis; a southeast-sloping vineyard site in the southern part of Écueil, on the border to Chamery. The site is located mid-slope, just above/west of the D26 road.

Les Hautes Vignes; a southeast-facing vineyard site in the southern part of Écueil. It is located immediately above/west of the D26 and borders to Les Gillis in southwest.

Le Mont des Chrétiens; a southeast-sloping vineyard site in the southern part of Écueil, on the border to Chamery. The site is located in the upper part of the slope, close to the edge of the forest, and borders Les Gillis, among others.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘C.’, 2016 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Extra-Brut ($139)
100% Sélection Massale Pinot Noir from the lieu-dit Les Chaillots planted in 1966, a plot prized for its sandy surface and tuffaceous subsoil. The wine was bottled in July, 2017 using the old tirage sur liège method and disgorged on May 9, 2023 with 1.5 grams per liter dosage, and bottled with cork and staple. Rich and refined with notes of fig leaf, black tea and fresh spices blended into a firm, structured palate.

Production: 1658 bottles; 30 Magnums.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘C.H.V.’, 2019 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut ($105)
‘C.H.V.’ indicates the two lieux-dits sources, Les Chaillots and Les Hautes Vignes, where dual soil types—sables (Les Chaillots) and argiles légères (Les Hautes Vignes) bring their unique personalities to the wine. 100% Chardonnay from the 2019 vintage, vinified in oak barrels, and bottled using gravity, without filtration or fining and aged with cork and staple. Bottled in July 2020, tirage sur liège; disgorged January 2024 and dosed at 2.5 grams per liter. Clean and intense with warm, rich aromas of brioche and roasted almonds and on the palate, honey and minerals on a sustained finish.

Production: 2009 Bottles

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘C.H.V.’, 2016 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier Cru Écueil Blanc de Blancs Extra-Brut 1.5 Liter ($247)
2016 was a rollercoaster vintage, but drawing from the twin lieux-dits of Les Chaillots and Les Hautes Vignes, the House has put together a beautiful Champagne, here in Magnum. Unfiltered, unfined and malo blocked. 100% Chardonnay with nine months sur-lie, 40% in large oak casks. The wine was bottled in July, 2017 and disgorged in October, 2023 with a dosage of 2 grams per liter; it exhibits aromas of warm, freshly-baked bread, lemon oil, white flowers and hazelnuts.

Production: 50 magnums

Premier-Cru Duality: Villages Écueil and Les Mesneux

Les Mesneux is located just below the northwestern part of the Montagne de Reims slope just south of the Reims beltway and rail line. Unlike Pinot-heavy Écueil, Mesneux leans toward Meunier with about 60% of the 118 planted to this varietal; Pinot Noir makes up 33% with the rest Chardonnay. Mesneux terroir is clay-limestone and sandy-loam and produces wines that are known for their delicate precision and focused tension.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘Millésime’, 2018 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier-Cru Écueil & Premier-Cru Les Mesneux Extra-Brut ($79)
2018 was a legendary vintage in Champagne; this blend of Premier Cru villages show the prolonged summer heatwave in the concentrated aromatics of the nose. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, the wine spent nine months on the less, 40% of it in 228 liter casks. It was bottled in July, 2019 and disgorged December 14, 2023 and dosed at 2 grams per liter. It displays the elegance and weight of the vintage with crisp fruitiness and spiced notes of cinnamon, licorice and pepper.

Production: 900 Bottles

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘Millésime’, 2013 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier-Cru Écueil & Premier-Cru Les Mesneux Extra-Brut ($173) 1.5 Liter
Millésime, of course, is a Champagne term for vintage and indicates that 85% of the grapes came from that specific harvest. 47% Pinot Noir and 53% Chardonnay, 25% fermented in oak from the difficult, but ultimately redeemed 2013 vintage. The grapes had their origin in the estate’s vines in Écueil and Mesneux; the wine was bottled in March 2014 and disgorged in May, 2024 and dosed at 2.5 grams per liter. It shows fruity notes of apples and apricots along with fresh almonds and hazelnuts and hints of coriander seed to add a touch of complexity.

Production 296 magnums.

Champagne Lacourte Godbillon ‘M.A.M.’, 2016 Petite Montagne-de-Reims Premier-Cru Écueil & Premier-Cru Les Mesneux Brut-Nature ($139)
100% Pinot Noir. The abbreviation ‘M.A.M’ signifies the double-barrel terroirs; the lieu-dit Mont Âme is distinguished by its chalky and calcareous soil, contributing to the minerality and Les Migerats, whose rich clay brings plumminess of the fruit into focus. From the 2016 harvest—a tricky vintage that was ultimately better for Pinot Noir than Chardonnay—which spent nine months on the lees. Bottled in July, 2017; disgorged on May 9, 2023 with zero dosage, finished with cork and staple. The wine shows sweet notes of plum tarts and ripe drupes with a refreshing and persistent roundness.

Production: 1834 Bottles, 30 Magnums.

Catalunya
La Vall del Riu Anoia in Alt Penedès

Over the past century and a half, no wine region has seen its product more compartmentalized than Spain. For the most part, red meant Rioja, white was Penedès, rosé was Navarra and sparkling was Cava. Sherry was… well, Sherry.

Over the past fifty years, all of those convenient ‘boxes’ has experienced its share of upheavals, but the most dynamic may be the re-envisioning of sparkling wine—primarily because it was once viewed as the ‘easiest’ of Spanish wines to understand. Lacking the gustatory nuance and intricate classifications of French Champagne, Spain’s response to this market was simple, refreshing bubbles so ludicrously inexpensive that party stores and mini-marts stocked it.

You’ve come a long way, bebé:

A hundred and fifty years after its inception, the Cava industry devolved into a volume-oriented D.O. with low viticultural standards and no geographical distinction in terms of climate and soils. This made the vinous landscape ripe for a new breed of producer intent on raising the bar—even if it meant leaving the Denominación de Origen altogether.

One of the most celebrated growing regions, the Anoia river valley in the Penedès, has long been seen as having the stuff to create truly great Cava; the soils, formed by sandstone and clay, sit on calcareous bedrock created from marine fossils. This allows for a water reserve that helps vines through dry spells. The river basin, the ‘Conca del Riu Anoia’ produces sparkling wines with a marked mineral and saline character and a very fine mesh of bubbles. Within this small region (surrounding the valley between the Anoia and Foix Rivers in eastern Penedès), new-wave Cava makers have discovered that the individual character of local villages and vineyards are capable of expressing these characteristics in a unique and identifiable way. Combined with tightened regulations—among which are the use of indigenous varieties only, extended lees time and restricted vineyard yields—these new sparkling wines are ideal not only for celebrating landmark dates on your calendar, but are their own celebration of youthful passion and commitment.

• Alt Penedès, La Vall del Riu Anoia •
Villages Torrelavit & Sant Sadurní d’Anoia

Celler Casajou

Laia Esmel and Jaume Vilaseca
The Vineyard as The Protagonist

A common theme found in the stories of young winemakers in Penedès is a return to their roots. Laia Esmel, along with her partner Jaume Vilaseca, did exactly that: “For us it is vital to be connected to the rural essence and nature to make vibrant wines,” Laia says. “That is why, after years of gathering experience traveling and meeting exceptional personalities, we decided to return to the place of our childhood, Sant Jaume Sesoliveres, a rural town in the valley of the Anoia River between Montserrat and the Mediterranean Sea.”

The move came in 2020, so they are still new to the game. “We consider the vineyard to be the protagonist in our adventure,” Jaume shares. “Many times in nature, things seem to be out of order, without explanations and without clear answers. Accepting this reality is the first step to understanding our terroir and working in harmony with it. We strive to produce vintage wines that are an authentic expression of the soils and climate we have. In doing so, we can celebrate the elegance and complexity of nature, even in its apparent lack of order.”

Laia Esmel, Celler Casajou

The winery is split into two projects: Casajou is focused on making precise, elegant Champagne-method sparkling wines. And with their friend Oriol, they are making ‘pétillant naturel’ wines from newly-planted vines under the label Celler Dumenge. Pét-nats are made in a manner that predates the so-called traditional method used in Cava; rather than inducing a second fermentation in the bottle to create the bubbles, as Champagne producers do, makers of pét-nat simply bottle the wine before the initial fermentation has ended.

A Zen-like respect for the natural and almost childlike fascination with viticulture is the thread that runs through Laia and Jaume’s conversations. Laia says, “We believe in giving the grapes all the time they need to become a free wine, and we work at all times to guide them until they are bottled. Pruning, work in the vineyard, soil regeneration, harvest day or spontaneous fermentation; we are aware of every step of the process of making our sparkling wines, interfering only in what is essential to help nature, and not to hinder it.”

Jaume adds, “We consider that bottled wine is the final result of a careful and laborious process. We make sure to give our best at every stage of its preparation. However, once in the bottle, the evolution process continues. We know this doesn’t mean it’s finished, because like a person, wine keeps changing over time. It will go through different phases and have its ups and downs, but despite everything, it will always shine with vitality and complexity. As sparkling wine makers, we pride ourselves on having transported a landscape in a glass.”

Celler Casajou ‘Vinya la Caldereta’, 2020 La Vall del Riu Anoia ‘Sant Sadurní d’Anoia’ Brut-Nature ($39)
A limited release of just 5,000 bottles, Casajou’s Vinya la Caldereta originates in a four-acre vineyard located on a small south-facing hillside in Sant Sadurní d’Anoia. Dominated by sandy-calcareous soils, it was planted in 1963 to Xarel·lo. This wine is 95% old vine Xarel·lo and 5% Macabeu. Following a manual harvest that began on August 21, 2020, the grapes were pressed and the ‘flower must’ alone was used, representing only 40% of the yield. ‘Flower must’ is a Cava regulation that refers to the first part of the grape pressing process; it is considered the highest quality must, since the Cava Designation of Origin limits the amount of must that can be obtained from each kilogram of grapes. For Laia and Jaume, the remaining must goes into the elaboration of Els Talls. In Caldereta, the two varieties co-ferment in stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts and undergo several hours of maceration with the skins. In the traditional method, the wine undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle and rests on its lees until disgorgement. It shows bright orchard fruit complemented by floral undertones and hints of Mediterranean spice.

Celler Casajou ‘Vinya la Teixonera’, 2021 La Vall del Riu Anoia ‘Torrelavit’ Rosé Brut-Nature ($39)
La Teixonera vineyard is named after a small river near the town of Torrelavit, whose name itself is a portmanteau of Torre and Lavit—two proximate communes in the Alt Penedès who joined forces. The vineyard was planted to Garnatxa Negra—current vines are ten years old. 100% Garnatxa Negra, the wine is redolent with raspberries, earth, and a slight touch of brine. 1140 bottles were filled.

Celler Casajou ‘Els Talls’, 2021 La Vall del Riu Anoia Brut-Nature ($36)
Els Talls represents a co-fermentation of Xarel·lo (80%) from La Caldereta and Garnatxa Negra (20%) from La Teixonera following a year’s maturation. The clay soils of La Teixonera reflect fruit and depth while the calcareous soils of La Caldereta introduce the electric tension of Xarel·lo. Like the origin, the wine is a delightful blend of apple and citrus, A scant 1300 bottles produced.

RECENT ARRIVALS

A great wine may begin life in the vineyard and end at the dinner table among appreciate fans, but it is the human touch in the middle that defines the creation. That’s why, when we celebrate new arrivals to our shelves, we find it a source of endless fascination to look at the women and men who are the wine’s elaborators; the skilled vignerons who coax powerful statements from basic produce.

With these new arrivals, we’ll consider the personalities of the cellar masters who may, with certain candor, be considered an indispensable part of various Champagne terroirs—some of which may be more familiar than others.

The Grande Montagne de Reims

Located between Reims and Épernay, the Montagne de Reims is a relatively low-lying (under a thousand feet in elevation) plateau, mostly draped in thick forest. Vines find a suitable home on the flanks, forming a horseshoe that opens to the west. So varied are the soils, topographies and microclimates here that it is not possible to speak of the region in any unified sense. Grande Montagne de Reims, which contains all of the region’s Grand Cru vineyards, covers the northern, eastern and southern slopes of the viticultural area, and Pinot Noir plantings dominate at 57%, followed by Chardonnay (30%) and Meunier (13%). Its vineyards face a multitude of directions, and soil type varies by village, giving rise to a breadth of Pinot Noir expressions, as well as exceptional Chardonnay.

Champagne Marguet
Benoît Marguet

Benoît Marguet, Champagne Marguet

Champagne Marguet has been a bellwether for innovation since 1883, the year that Émile Marguet began to graft his vines onto American rootstocks in the face of the impending invasion of phylloxera. Alas, so ridiculed was the notion throughout Champagne that Marguet wound up tearing out the grafted vines and promptly declared bankruptcy.

Ratchet forward a century and a half: In 2006, Émile Marguet’s distant scion Benoît Marguet joined forces with Hervé Jestin, the former chef de cave of Duval-Leroy, and began to produce a special homeopathic and biodynamic super-cuvée called ‘Sapience’, first released in 2013. Being on the cutting edge of trends has finally paid dividends. Today, Benoît farms 25 acres of vines, all using biodynamic practices. Most are owned by Marguet himself while the rest are leased from relatives. Among them are eight different lieux-dits with an average vine age of 42 years; each is bottled under the name of the plot and reflects the minute soil differences that exist throughout his holdings as well as the massale-select varieties he suits to his various terroirs—among them Les Crayères, Les Bermonts, Le Parc and Les Saints Rémys.

The Vallée de la Marne

In strictly geographical terms, the Marne Valley extends from the city of Tours-sur-Marne to Château-Thierry. It stretches over sixty miles and thorough two départements, the Marne and the Aisne, all the way to the limits of Seine-et-Marne. As its name indicates, the Marne Valley follows the river, a landscape of rolling hills and small villages. Vines are planted on both banks although those on the north side benefit from a more favorable southern to eastern sun exposure. The most famous villages are located at the eastern end of the valley around the city of Épernay, a ranking that reflects the importance given to the presence of chalk in the soil. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir dominate the vineyards of the eastern end of the region, and the major Champagne houses located here include Billecart-Salmon or Philiponnat in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Deutz and Bollinger at Aÿ and Jacquesson in Dizy. West of Châtillon-sur-Marne, chalk tends to be found more deeply buried in the ground; the top soil is made of calcareous clay and clay marls. Meunier is the grape of choice in this part of the valley and it here that a new generation of experimental winemaker has flocked in order to deepen their own (and by proxy) our understanding of this variety.

Champagne Françoise Bedel
Françoise Bedel

Françoise Bedel and son, Champagne Françoise Bedel

Champagne Françoise Bedel: In a small estate that is closer to Paris than to Reims, Françoise Bedel has managed a remarkable feat: She has turned an acute family illness into a paradigm shift for much of the Champagne region.

From the village of Crouttes-sur-Marne, nestling the banks of the Marne River, Bedel discovered homeopathic medicine while trying to find a cure for her son Vincent’s hitherto untreatable condition. Vincent, now her winemaker, made a marked improvement, and this how Françoise’s journey to biodynamic viticulture began. In 1982, at a time when virtually no one in the wine world had even heard about it, let alone employed it, she realized that the health of the body and the health of the vineyard may be interchangeable concepts.

The 22 acres that make up Champagne Françoise Bedel are spread out on either side of the Marne, Crouttes-Sur-Marne, Nanteuil-Sur-Marne, Charly-Sur-Marne, and Villiers-Saint-Denis. Here vines are between 30 and 70 years old, and each plot boasts different subsoils, allowing for blending according to the terroirs and the elaboration of terroir-specific cuvées.

“These Champagnes are the expression of a rigorous method that brings out and enhances the qualities and particularities of the earth, the vines and the fruit,” Bedel says. “Because I love plants, life in contact with nature, and passing on a healthy land to the next generations, I have been cultivating my vineyard organically since 1998 on the entire estate.”

She is, in fact, only the second generation to tend these vineyards. Her parents, Fernand and Marie-Louise Bedel, turned over a portion of the estate to her in 1979 and with her son Vincent Desaubeau, who has now taken over as winemaker, she forges the future.

She says, “Biodynamics is way of thinking—about the earth, about ourselves, about wine.”

The Coteaux Sud d’Épernay

The Coteaux Sud d’Épernay is fairly evenly balanced between Meunier at 46.7% and Chardonnay at 40.9%, with Pinot Noir making up the remainder. Somewhat simplified, it can be said that Chardonnay is most common in Épernay and in the valleys of Le Mancy and Le Darcy in the north and east, while Meunier prevails in the valley of Le Cubry (excluding Épernay) in the center and west. Sandwiched between two powerhouse wine regions (Côte des Blancs and Vallée de la Marne), the Coteaux has an identity removed from either one. Its terroir is different from the clay-heavy soils of the Marne and it lacks the pure chalk of that puts the ‘blanc’ in the Côte des Blancs. In short, these Champagnes are uniquely situated to offer the best of both worlds. As a result, the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay has long fought for recognition as entity unto itself, not necessarily a sub-region of its big brothers on either side.

Champagne Laherte Frères
Aurélien Laherte

Aurélien Laherte, Champagne Laherte Frères

Champagne Laherte Frères: When trying to demystify the mysterious—and to ground the ethereal—words like ‘alchemy’ (the ancient pseudoscience of spinning gold from base metals) may seem problematic. And yet, under the nimble hands of Aurélien Laherte, the full range of Champagne’s ‘next-level’ magic takes center stage.

‘Next-level’ because Laherte is one of the most progressive young winemakers in the Coteaux Sud d’Epernay, a sub-region sandwiched between the Côtes des Blancs and the Vallée de la Marne. A champion of organics and biodynamics, Aurélien produces a lineup of blended and single-vineyard Champagnes that expresses the unique identities of his terroirs.

The quest for perfection is a keystone in the plans of every winemaker, but in Champagne, where warming temperatures are created consistently better harvests and a return to a natural approach is making terroir more and more transparent, the luck of the draw is shifting to the skills of the Cellar Master. Knowing when to blend and when to let an individual lieu-dit shine through is among the most valuable tools in the chest, and when deployed correctly, allows the vintner to create wines worth their weight in gold.

Champagne Pascal Lejeune
Pascal and Sandrine Lejeune

Pascal and Sandrine Lejeune, Champagne Pascal Lejeune

The permutations of Champagne are as varied as its terroir, but in the exploration, facts keep popping up in triads: In the favored grapes (Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Meunier), in styles (Blanc de Noirs, Blanc de Blancs, Rosé) and in varying level, in dosage (Brut, Sec and Doux). There are strata in each of these categories, of course, but you get the picture.

Now the trio of Pascal, Sandrine and Thibaut Lejeune (a dad, mom and son team) from the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay, are excelling in the production wines from three categories: Village level, lieu-dit (monoparcellaire) level and a cépage made of grapes from the three villages where they grow fruit, Épernay, Moussy and Vinay.

Beating swords into ploughshares is a Biblical injection that Pascal Lejeune takes literally—he left his career in the military and gave himself to the vine. It didn’t hurt that he fell in love with a Champagne grower’s daughter: Pascal’s wife Sandrine hails from a family that has been growing grapevines in Moussy (where more than half of the vineyard’s grapevines are located) on the south-facing slopes of Épernay since 1910. Originally a side operation, not an essential part of the family’s activities, Sandrine’s great grandfather Edmond played an active part in creating the Moussy cooperative.

In 1995, when Pascal and Sandrine took the reins, their aim was to usher in a new era by enlarging the vineyard area into nearby terroirs, and by enriching the range of offerings via new cuvées: As a brand, Champagne Pascal Lejeune was born.

Says Pascal, “I believe I have a responsibility and commit myself collectively to our business and our terroir in order to perpetuate and monitor developments for our children and future generations. This requires a sincere respect for people, nature, our vines, our soils, and careful work in order to obtain quality grapes. To offer you the best that nature offers us, our vintages are very different, there is something for every occasion and taste… Nature does things well!”

This commitment to nature has been proven out over the past 17 years; Lejeune was one of the first producers in Champagne to plant specially-selected grass species between vine rows. Manual techniques are used for pruning, trellising and debudding. “The benefits of this special care can be observed,” says Sandrine. “Biodiversity is maintained, the soils are protected, the erosion is limited, and as the grapevine roots develop, the phytosanitary products have been significantly reduced.

The Coteaux du Petit-Morin

It’s all quiet on the western front—primarily because the Champagne-producing villages of Petit-Morin are located exclusively on the eastern front. This has traditionally been négociant country, where growers sell their grapes rather than produce wine. Although Coteaux du Petit-Morin is only fifteen miles from Épernay, it remains rural and true to its roots, where the vineyards are surrounded by open field and forested hillsides. The region is frequently lumped in with the Côte de Sézanne or labeled ‘Val de Petit-Morin’ named after the river that has its source in the Val-des-Marais commune, part of the Côte des Blancs. But Olivier Collin of Ulysse Collin (the area’s largest producer) prefers to call his home-base ‘Coteaux du Petit-Morin’ after the hillsides on which the vines grow; he defines the territory in specific terms: “Côte de Sézanne begins at the villages of Broyes and Allemant, south of Villevenard. We run from Soulières in the north to Villevenard in the south, up to Vert-Toulon in the east. As you can see, we are quite unique from either Sézanne or Côte des Blancs”

Champagne Hubert Noiret
Nathalie and Jean-Michel Noiret

Nathalie and Jean-Michel Noiret, Champagne Hubert Noiret

Champagne Hubert Noiret: The transition from wine growing to wine marketing, from selling your grapes to producers to becoming the producer yourself, often takes many generations. Such was the case with Hubert Noiret, a Champagne house in Villevenard commune of Petit-Morin formed in 2003 by Nathalie and Jean-Pierre Noiret, whose families have been tending vineyards since the 18th century. Indeed, it is a background that has served the couple well.

Says Nathalie: “We find that the ancestral techniques of our grandparents who used natural materials have been forgotten and replaced by chemistry. Used on a large scale, it has unbalanced the human environment and plant diversity in the name of comfort. Our life journey has made us understand that chemistry has limited human and plant life and created a phenomena of resistance, which is why since 2011, we gradually rebalance the natural forces of life on all our plots via biodynamics. We reuse materials of natural origin at very low doses: copper against mildew and sulfur against powdery mildew—both essential for the protection of the vineyard and the production of great Champagne.”

Jean-Pierre adds, “From a very young age, we followed our parents closely, but to try to understand what nature wants to give us, I would need at least 3 lifetimes. Ours is a profession of patience, where every detail counts to achieve excellence. We are blessed to be in a region of Champagne rich in a Neolithic past with a very diverse and varied geology. We move from the peat of the Marais de St. Gond to chalk, from marls to white and green clays, from sandy loams to clay loams; a geological palette of incredible richness, lending a character and a style to our Champagnes.”

The Côte-des-Blancs

Soil chemistry may be nuanced—acidity combined with alkalinity, macronutrient and micronutrient availability, et al., but its effects on grape growing is profound. The Côte des Blancs sits upon an exceptionally pure chalk bedrock, which combined with mostly east-facing slopes, creates an ideal environment for growing Chardonnay. The resulting wines are unparalleled in poise and finesse. Even with this overview, the individual villages that pepper the 8000 acres of Côte des Blancs vineyards each bring their own unique gift to the Champagne party. As a result, it is fairly easy to differentiate styles and subtleties between the communes, and broadly, between those of the north and south. Wines from the northern Côte des Blancs villages, with more clay in the chalk, produce richer wines with recognizable weight while those of the south, with lighter topsoil, are piercing, fine-grained wines with a characteristic minerality that is often described as ‘salinity.’

Champagne Pertois-Moriset
Cécile and Vincent Bauchet

Vincent Bauchet, Champagne Pertois-Moriset

Champagne Pertois-Moriset: When young couples marry, their first order of business is often creating a family. In the case of Yves Pertois and Janine Moriset, who wed in 1951, it was to build a winery. Having both been raised in the business, they set up shop in Mesnil-Sur-Oger and drew fruit from fifty acres of prestigious vineyards split between Côte-des-Blancs and Côte de Sézanne.

Today the estate is run by their granddaughter Cécile, who, with her husband Vincent Bauchet, has worked diligently to improve all aspects of the inheritance, technically and ecologically. “The estate works while remaining attentive to the biodiversity that surrounds it,” Cécile maintains. “If the years allow it, no chemical inputs are applied on the vine; the vines are naturally grassed in winter, and in summer the soil is ploughed. All mechanical work is carried out with a 100% electric tractor.”

Vincent adds, “Respecting House legacy, we created a pressing center in 2009. It is equipped with two stainless-steel membrane presses, two thermo-regulated stainless-steel tanks, and a vat room for barrels and big oaks. These facilities contribute to a healthy pressing, a fermentation at controlled linear temperature, a malolactic fermentation deliberately blocked on most of the cuvées, and an ageing on fine lees throughout the winter. Our wine is bottled in June/July in order to give the wine time to fully develop in tanks and barrels. The bottles then rest on the cellar, at least 20 months for the main vintages, and much longer for the vintages, thus guaranteeing that our wines reflect the unique flavors of their terroir.”

Côte-des-Bar

Perhaps the lack of a historical reputation means that the Côte-des-Bar has less to lose, but the overall mindset of the region encourages mavericks, which in tradition-heavy Champagne is rarely seen. It is these independent winemakers that are primarily responsible for district’s mushrooming growth, which now makes up almost a quarter of the entire Champagne region. The vines of the Côte des Bar can be found scattered patches within two main districts, the Barséquenais, centered on Bar-sur-Seine, and the Barsuraubois, centered on Bar-sur-Aube.

Champagne Dosnon
Davy Dosnon

Davy Dosnon, Champagne Dosnon

Champagne Dosnon: Helping to forge the region’s new identity is a crew of younger grower/producers, many of whom have traveled abroad and trained in other winemaking regions. As a result, they tend to focus more on individuality; single-variety, single-vintage, and single-vineyard Champagnes from the Côte des Bar are quite common. Not only that, but land remains relatively inexpensive, which encourages experimentation. Even though many of Côte des Bar’s Champagnes are 100% Pinot Noir, styles can differ markedly from producer to producer, bottling to bottling and, of course, vintage to vintage. Half an hour north of Chablis, in and around the villages of Avirey and Lingey, Davy Dosnon tends a patchwork of vines intermixed with forest and fields of grain. Having been born and raised among these rolling hills, he is descended from growers who spent centuries identifying the rockiest and most suitable places to grow vines. In fact, he preserves many of their tools and records in his cellar.

Davy studied viticulture in Dijon and worked in top Burgundy wine houses before moving back to the village of Lingey, intending to reassemble his family’s vineyards. Here the terroir is starkly different from northern Champagne and its famed chalky soils; in the Aube the terroir is closer to that of Chablis—clay over Kimmeridgian and Portlandian limestone, soils produce wines of great delineation, power and purity.

Central to Dosnon’s modus operandi is fermenting entirely in former Puligny-Montrachet barrels. Dosages are very low (if any) and the wines benefit from the restraint. None are fined or filtered.

Oak in Champagne remains controversial; when done at all, it must be done gently, without drawing attention to itself. In Dosnan’s cellar, it is meant to add creaminess, complexity and weight, not tannins.

“We practice sustainable viticulture in order to meet the quality requirements of the House,” says Davy Dosnon. “The plots are thus grassed to promote microbial life in the soil; the soils are scratched and plowed for aeration and no chemical fertilizers are added. The House also uses the permanent Cordon de Royat pruning sizes for Pinot Noir and Chablis sizes for Chardonnay. This short pruning allows for a better control of yield. Topping and high trimming are also carried out in June to control the vigor of the plants. We always hand-harvest, seeking bunches with optimum maturity.”

Dosnon uses a traditional vertical press for crushing, pointing out that this configuration reduces the movements of the bunch to a strict minimum during extraction and allows finer, less stained and perfectly clear juices to be obtained.

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Posted on 2024.12.27 in France, Saturday Sips Wines, Spain DO, Champagne, Wine-Aid Packages, Cava