Grower Champagne - As Dynamic as Ever

Bereche is a producer receiving quite a bit of attention and praise in Europe lately. And having drunk a few bottles over there last year, and a couple more here in Australia over the Sydney summer, I can confidently vouch for the quality. Roughly a three-way split of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, this, the NV Brut Reserve, was disgorged in July 2022 with 2019 as the base wine. The overal 'feel' here is one of freshness and energy but without sharp edges. The flavour profile spans orchard fruit, showing red and green apple and some white peach. Hints of red fruit poke through with subtle autolytic character a minor player. The producer certainly takes a 'farmer/vigneron first, winemaker second' approach meaning the health and quality of the vine comes first and foremost, and i think the quality and purity of the fruit really shines through here. A producer to watch and a wine to try. - Ches Cook, FWC.

The Brut Réserve is based on the 2019 vintage (65%) with the balance from the two previous vintages. The blend is split between 35% Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims (specifically Ludes, Trépail and Ormes); 30% Chardonnay from sites across both Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne; and 35% Pinot Meunier from Mareuil-le-Port in Vallée de la Marne. The average vine age is 40 years. The fruit was hand-harvested, followed by a natural yeast fermentation in barrel, 24-36 months sur lattes in the Bérêche cellar, and finally, disgorgement by hand (with six grams per litre dosage).

The latest release, based on 2020, is a blend of Chardonnay (50%), Pinot Noir and Meunier (50%). It was raised predominantly in old oak barrels of various sizes, with a small proportion in stainless steel. The reserve wine component is 50% and the dosage is approximately 5 g/L.

This looks great and is a snapshot of everything we love in the grower Champagne movement. Producers such as Chartogne-Taillet and others (e.g our much loved Egly Ouriet) deliberately pick their fruit much later and riper than most of the big houses. They’re confident in their viticulture and are seeking genuine primary fruit flavour, intent on making a great wine first and foremost, which just happens to be sparkling. Ripeness here is on show nicely, with golden nectarine and fresh stone fruit character and lots of expanse in the mouth, held up by vibrant acids which draw the wine out very long. The finish is crunchy with a nice interplay of citrus notes, some meal and a nice bite of white chalk. Certainly a lot to like here and if this is the entry level wine then I greatly look forward to trying the wines up the scale, if the opportunity arises. – Ches Cook, FWC. 

I have had a few bottles of this in recent weeks as i moved across Europe. Dhondt Grellet is a producer on the up and up, and with that, the wines are receiving a lot of hype. There's generosity and genuine ripeness to the fruit, providing immediate appeal. But the wines, including this cuvee, are not short on detail either. This comes highly recommended. Ches Cook, FWC.

This the first cuvee of Adrien's range and the largest; he intends it to be an expression of all 6 hectares of his holdings spread across Sezanne, Cuis, and Avenay val d'Or. Vines are an average of 45 years old. The blend is 50% Chardonnay (Sezanne) - 1/2 fermented in barrel, the rest in tank & 30% Pinot Noir tank-fermented (Avenay Val d'Or in Vallee de la Marne), and 20% tank-fermented Pinot Meunier (from old vines in Cuis). The base vintage is 70% of the blend with the remainder a perpetual reserve started in 1986. Dosage 2g/l.

'Bursting with aromas of freshly baked bread, green apple, pear, warm biscuits and wet stones, Dhondt's NV Extra-Brut Dans un Premier Temps (2019) is medium to full-bodied, broad and textural, with a gourmand, enveloping core of fruit, lively acids and a long, sapid finish. A layered, vinous wine, animated by a pinpoint mousse, it's the finest rendition of this cuvee to date.' William Kelley | 92 Points | The Wine Advocate

A lot of Champagne has been drunk in recent weeks as I holidayed across Europe. I was surprised and excited by the number of producers I had never heard of before, so I enjoyed tasting through a whole range of new things.

Etienne Calsac doesn’t quite fit that category as we have stocked his wines at Five Ways before, albeit very briefly, but it helped me recognise the name when browsing the shelves of Cantine Isola in Milan. Their Champagne range is formidable which made picking a few bottles quite tricky.

Fortunately, it seems as though picking a bottle of Etienne Calsac 'L'Echappee Belle' Blanc de Blancs NV off the shelf was the right call. We drank it a week later in Mykonos, overlooking a quiet and secluded beach in the east of the island. Etienne Calsac is based in Avize in the Cote de Blancs, working mainly with Chardonnay. This wine is actually a Blanc de Blanc and it possesses all the best traits of some of our favourite wines from this part of Champagne. It’s racy with bright acid, but the primary fruit that fills the mid palate is ripe and bronzed. There’s a wash of chalk and river pebbles across the back palate, and a slight leesy element that enhances the texture. A really exciting wine and a good introduction to the producer. – Ches Cook, FWC. 

Extra Brut, 100% Chardonnay, Disgorged 10/2023 25% oak 75% stainless steel vats. Aged on fine lees. 18 to 24 months. 70% of the base wine comes from the village of Grauves, known for its cooler microclimate. The vineyards were planted by Etienne’s grandparents, who are both from Grauves. Beginning in 2011, Etienne has kept a perpetual reserve just for this cuvée, and 30% of the final blend of 'L’Echappée Belle' is produced with reserve wine.

Blanc de Blancs (100% Chardonnay). Extra Brut. The grapes are harvested by hand—from 9 different sites—at their maximum ripeness before being destemmed & gently pressed. The fruit undergoes complete malolactic fermentation & no sulfites are added to the blend. The wine is aged in new & old barrels for 12 to 24 months and held in bottle for 1 to 5 years until it is disgorged, corked & released.

One of Champagne's most exciting producers is Emmanuel Lassaigne, an intelligent and thoughtful grower who works with the chalky south- and southeast-facing slope vineyards of Montgueux. Geologically, Montgueux represents a continuation of the strata of the Côte de Blancs. It was Emmanuel's father Jacques who in 1950s and 1960s began to replant some of the village's abandoned vineyards, and in 1999, rather than risk loosing the estate, Emmanuel quit a successful career in manufacturing to return home. Organic farming, cultivated soils and harvesting at full maturity are his precepts in the vineyards. In the cellar, the wines ferment in wood and stainless steel, and they're disgorged by hand without dosage. The style is powerful and vinous but also racy and electric. Like several others growers profiled in this issue, Lassaigne is especially significant because he is shining a spotlight on what is possible in what I've elsewhere called Champagne's "secret garden" of hidden producing villages. The négociants were long content to buy grapes from Montgueux without disclosing their origins, and only Charles Heidseick's former chef de cave, the late Daniel Thibault, ever publicly praised the sector. Yet today, Lassaigne's extraordinary Champagnes are pushing the qualitative boundaries not just of the Aube but of the entire region. I'll be devoting a more extensive essay to Lassaigne some time soon, but for now I warmly encourage readers to acquaint themselves with this first-rate producer. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate. 

Disgorged December 2021. The Larmandier family vinify fruit from two tiny plots from at the heart of Avize (Chemin de Plivot planted in 1955, and Chemin de Flavigny planted in 1960) for this cuvée. Both are highly chalky parcels with very little topsoil, and both lie on the lower slopes of Avize (not far from Agrapart and Selosse’s La Fosse vineyard).

The winemaking is similar to the other cuvées, save for the use of smaller, neutral barrels for the fermentations, necessitated by the smaller quantities of wine produced. The wines age in bottle for a minimum of five years and are then disgorged by hand with only two grams dosage per litre. It’s a stunning, racy example of Avize, a little deeper than the Terre de Vertus, although more delicate and less fleshy than the Vieille Vigne du Levant.

“The 2014 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Chemins d'Avize continues to show brilliantly, unfurling in the glass with aromas of citrus oil, freshly baked bread, white flowers, fresh mint, pastry cream and blanched almonds. Full-bodied, layered and vinous, it's chiseled and concentrated, with racy acids, chalky structure and a long, saline finish. This is a terrific bottle that exemplifies the Larmandier-Bernier style.” 96 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“The 2014 Extra Brut Les Chemins d'Avize Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru is fabulous. Rich, ample and potent, the 2014 possesses tremendous density from start to finish. Apricot, spice, dried flowers, graphite and lemon confit all build in a Champagne of enormous resonance. The pedigree here is evident. Chemins d'Avize is a blend from the Chemin de Plivot and Chemin de Flavigny lieux-dits. It was vinified in neutral oak and bottled with dosage of two grams per liter.” 95 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous