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AD FINES is a small vineyard of the Lubéron located in Ménerbes, at the foot of the village classified "plus beaux villages de France". Lost among the woods and hills, the vineyard plots of the domain are concentrated on 2,8 hectares: a "small" vineyard able to produce marvellous wines in limited quantities (9000 bottles). The estate owner is Michel Rocher, a computer specialist and oenophile. In 1994 he acquired these few parcels of land on which he planted vineyards from 1996 until 2001. Three grape varieties enjoy the sunny days of South of France: the Cabernet Sauvignon, the Syrah from “massal selection” (no hybrids) and the Serine, the ancestor of the Syrah, which is called "Syrah with small grains" and of which one can still find some rare plants in Côte-Rôtie, a country it would originate from.
This unique place has an history that dates back several centuries, the history of the "Via Domitia", the oldest french road built around 120 BC by the Romans and linking, for a part, the Alps to the Pyrenees with guesthouses and horse stables marked with stone pillars. In Goult, a neighboring village, an old stone pillar is still a testament to the presence, at the limit of the cities of Cavaillon and Apt, of an old horse stables of the Via Domitia, that the Romans had called Ad Fines ("The border”) and from which Michel Rocher drew inspiration to baptize his domain.
The terroirs which outcrop in the Luberon were shaped from the Upper Cretaceous, 89 million years ago, by the action of water and tectonic movements.
During the Cretaceous period, the sea deposited the sediments that outcrop from the Mont du Lubéron, and then, in the Oligocene period, more than 32 million years later, it extended from Nice to Switzerland, forming lagoon-land deposits. It is also during this period that the recent mountain ranges appear.
In the Miocene, 23 million years ago, the Alps were built in their broad outline, and the marine transgressions took place in a depression known as the "peri-Alpine depression", between the Alps and the Massif Central. The Avignon basin area is then dotted with islands and shoals that delimit several basins. The sedimentation is then characterised by a succession of deposit sequences which testify to marine transgressive movements sometimes dominated by the tides, sometimes by fair weather or storm waves.
It is on these Miocene deposits, composed of molasses and dated more precisely to the Burdigalian period, between -20 and -16 million years ago, that the vineyard of the AD FINES estate rests: the sea had then invaded the Rhône Valley by depositing numerous sandy and sandstone sediments. These molasses are essentially detrital sedimentary rocks, ideal for vines: they are soft and therefore favour the rooting of the vines, and they are permeable, so they constitute a continuous source of water that is extremely precious for the plants.
Michel Rocher has only one goal: to produce pleasant wines of high quality. For this, the vines have obviously to be grown in the respect of the environnment. Even if the bottles do not have any label of organic certification, the plants are treated in the most natural way possible. Not a single drop of chemistry falls on this magnificent terroir that are the calcareous hills of Heyrauds.
The grapes are harvested manually and each plot and variety is made separately. The fermentation takes place under the action of indigenous yeasts with a maceration of 3 to 5 weeks. The wine is aged in young Burgundy barrels of one or two wines for the Serine and Cabernet Sauvignon, and in old Burgundy barrels of several wines for the Syrah. The duration of the ageing process varies between 12 and 18 months.
3000 of the 9000 bottles produced are deliberately stored in the estate cellar for a long ageing in order to be able to offer old vintages, for our greatest pleasure!
Back from the Algerian war in 1960, Lucien made his decision : he will be a wine-grower and to do so, he asked his mother the permission to exploit the small hectare of vines she had inherited a century earlier. He explained the origin of this small vines plot in an article in L'Humanité magazine on February the 9th, 2002: " We found traces of someone called Aviet who cultivated the vine in Montigny in 1447. Not a winegrower, but a serf who maintained the vines of the Cîteaux monks, owners of a large part of the village lands. This will be the case until the last century when my parents inherit a 1 ha plot, what was enough for these farmers of an another time that bred four cows. Wine was very important, it was a source of calories that allowed a man to do the hard work that agriculture required. My story with wine begins very early when, between the potatoes fields and the stables, I spent years hoeing, taking care of this vine, and producing these wines, still unknown at this time. "
In 1968, he founded with friends who were geologists La Confrérie de Bacchus, an association which brings together each year these lovers of the Montigny-lès-Arsures lands and its wine. The fellows who join it will gradually make Lucien wines known, sometimes at a picnic in the forest, sometimes during a small trip organized by the brotherhood.
The estate slowly grew, year after year, and in 1990, Lucien was joined by his son Vincent, and they baptized together the estate Caveau de Bacchus.
The vineyard, made up of 50% red grape varieties (Trousseau, Ploussard) and 50% white grape varieties (Melon à Queue Rouge, Savagnin), is spread over the most beautiful terroirs of Montigny-lès-Arsures. The soils have a substrate dating from the Triassic end (-240 million years), up to the middle of the Jurassic (-174 million years) : these are the famous Trias marls and Lias marls which were deposited in a marine environment when the sea covered the region. The climatic changes and the tectonic movements which took place during this period of the Earth history caused bathymetric variations and modifications of the oxygen rate in the water which explain the great diversity of the marls color and structure, sometimes iridescent, sometimes gray then black, and sometimes with a foliated structure.
It is rare to see these marls outcrop on the surface, most of the time they are covered by a thick layer of sediments coming from millions years of erosion.
The Triassic marls, which outcrop at the slopes bottom, are often covered with a thick layer of runny silt or limestone scree wrapped in a more or less abundant clay matrix, depending on the location, while the Lias marls present on the slopes, are covered with a thick limestone scree layer coming from the erosion of the ledge which overhangs them, with in places a thick bed of clay with chailles : the chailles are small, silky kidneys of organic origin that erosion has released from their calcareous envelope and disseminated in the midst of decalcification clays.
Some plots are located on a limestone soil which outcrops in rare places and which are called encrinal limestones : this limestone bench marks the transition between the Triassic marls and the Lias marls, and testify to a period during which the shallow seas are more agitated, favoring a strong environment oxygenation and a better carbonates precipitation : the waters were populated by small arched oysters, called gryphées, that are now fossilized in the limestone bank.
Each terroir its grape variety : The Trousseau, a very demanding grape variety to reach a good maturity appreciates the clay with chailles soils which covers the Lias gray marls ; The Poulsard variety prefers the iridescent Triassic marls, because the root penetration is facilitated. The Savagnin, on the contrary, gives the best of itself in the Lias gray marls, and more precisely when their structure is foliated : they are called the "paper shales" marls.
Chardonnay, on the other hand, is not very demanding in term of soil, but its wines have a distinct aromatic profil depending on the terroir nature, and it gives excellent results in soils rich in scree that are found at the limestone ledge base.
The estate vines are around 30 to 60 years old, and all come from sélection massale : this reproduction technique consists of cutting the mother plant branch, making it possible to keep intact its genetic heritage. They are cultivated according the sustainable agriculture principles, chemical treatments are only used when it is necessary, and the harvest is done manually.
You probably noticed that the estate produces wines called "Cuvée des Géologues ", "Cuvée des Docteurs ", "Réserve du Caveau " or "Cuvée de la Confrérie ". These names were not chosen at random, they bear witness to a more than 40 years long friendship between Lucien Aviet and the students from the region, who came to help him harvest the grapes when he started its wine-growing activity. To thank them for their precious help, Lucien gave them a drink : the geologists liked his rich and consistent Trousseau wines, which helped them to regain strength, while the doctors preferred his more delicate Chardonnay and Ploussard wines : so are born the "cuvées des Géologues" and "cuvées des Docteurs" !
In terms of winemaking, simplicity is essential : alcoholic fermentations take place with the native yeasts and in temperature-controlled vats. Nothing other than sulphites is added to the must. The red wines as well as the Chardonnay wines are aged in casks for one year while the Savagnin carries out an oxidative ageing : 4 years of veil ageing for the cuvée "Réserve du Caveau" and 8 years of veil aging for the Vin Jaune (or "cuvée de la Confrérie").
The oxidative ageing is a process which consists in not filling the barrels with young wine when the latter evaporates. Contact with oxygen increases as evaporation, a yeast veil is then forming on the must surface, giving it an isolating protection from the ambiant oxygen, thus avoiding acetic souring. The yeasts work gives these wines some very characteristic aromas of nuts, morels and curry, and an extraordinary cellar potential of over one hundred years, without resorting to any sulfiting process.
The Champagne André ROBERT Estate is located in the Côte des Blancs region, on the classified Grand Cru village Le Mesnil sur Oger. Running the vineyard for five generations, the estate has 14 ha of parcels classified Grand Cru at Le Mesnil Oger and Premier Cru at Vertus, Etréchy and Cuis. It has got the status of harvester-makers (RM), which means that it grows vines, harvests, develops and sells its own champagne without buying grapes or wine. It also supplies the Billecart Salmon Estate with clear wines.
This domain is not very well-known, wrongly in our opinion, because it emanates from those champagnes a passion for meticulous work and a desire to higher quality every year.
The estate is currently run by Claire ROBERT and Jean-Baptiste DENIZART, both of them are committed to an environmentally friendly approach. In fact, they obtained the HVE (Haute Valeur Environnementale) level 3 label in 2018 : this certification attests to environmental excellence translated by the achievement of performance thresholds (performance requirements) in four areas : biodiversity (hedges, grassland, groves ...), phytosanitary strategy, fertilization management, and irrigation process.
From the domain's fragmented plots, Jean-Baptiste wants to extract the quintessence through a tailor-made vinification, where each detail counts. His motto is patience: the Grand Cru champagnes made from the parcels of Le Mesnil sur Oger are all matured 7 years on slats in the precious estate chalk cellar.
Only the cuvée, that is to say the first juice obtained by three successive presses, is used ; more rarely, and depending on the year, the taille, that is to say the second juice obtained by two additional presses, can be integrated.
The alcoholic fermentation starts spontaneously either with the native yeasts, or by the use of a leaven, elaborated from the must. Sometimes, the winemaker uses active dry yeasts but their use is increasingly rare, because it is noted that native yeasts are getting the upper hand. The wines do not carry out the malolactic fermentation : on the one hand, because the very low pH of the must is unfavorable to the lactic bacteria development. Only fine lees are kept into the must that is slightly sulphited to ensure microbial stability during the 7 months ageing in barrels.
The wines are then bottled for a second fermentation and rest on slats from 3 to 7 years depending on the vintage.
Then remains the sugar addition final process, called liqueur de dosage, to compensate the liquid loss caused by the bottle disgorging. This process is rarely mentioned in detail, yet it can have a significant impact on the final wine balance. Especially when the "liqueur de dosage" is homemade, as is the case for André ROBERT champagnes.
The use of Rectified Concentrated Must (RCM) obtained industrially from dehydrated must can simplify the sugar addition process because it is simple to use, very concentrated in sugars, odorless and the result is always the same. On the other hand, the RMC does not allow to play with the wine's evolution according its disgorging date ; that's why Jean-Baptiste wants to prepare his liqueurs himself and he has, to this purpose, a collection of reserve wines and wines of the year to bring the champagne its final touch. In order not to be mistaken about the result to obtain, he carries out tests of different sugar addition levels on a dozen bottles and he analyzes their evolution in time: at D-day, then D + 15, then D + 30, and so on, and this, in order to select the appropriate sugar addition rate that will bring the champagne the best balance.
It is undeniable, Jean-Baptiste has distinguished himself from others, his champagnes have his touch, and if we had to describe them in one word we would say : Finesse and Exaltation.
The Domaine la Borderie is located in Bar-sur-Seine, in the Champagne vineyards of the Côte des Bar, more specifically in the Bar Séquanais. With a total surface area of 11 ha, the estate is currently managed by Marie and Simon Normand, brother and sister, the third generation of the family to work in the vineyards.
Only 1.5 ha are reserved for the production of the estate champagnes, the rest of the grapes going to a cooperative.
I can't remember how I discovered the estate - by hearsay? in the course of a discussion? - but I was pleasantly surprised when I tasted their cuvées: the champagnes are tasty, the cellar work precise, clean and square. In short, there's little fuss and a lot of pleasure in the glass!
The vineyards of the Côte des Bar stand in stark contrast to those of the chalky Marne Valley, with their scalloped hillsides cut by a series of valleys. Slopes are around 14%, with forests at the top. The vineyard lies on a geological formation known as Virgulian because of its richness in Exogyra Virgula, fossilized skeletons of molluscs that lived in a marine environment during the Upper Kimmeridgian.
The soil was formed some 150 million years ago, and consists of three layers of grey marl separated by two layers of marly to hard limestone. Its total thickness is around 80 meters.
This heavy, poorly permeable soil can sometimes pose rooting difficulties for certain grape varieties, but it is ideally suited to Pinot Noir.
The estate's grape varieties include the three most important in the region: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, plus a rarer variety: Pinot Blanc. The vines are between 30 and 70 years old.
The estate pays great attention to respecting biodiversity: it has to be said that the location of their plots in a wooded environment favors this impetus, which began in 2012 with the abandonment of herbicides and insecticides. To fight agains the development of crytogamic diseases, the use of copper- and sulfur-based products is favored, as recommended by the Organic Agriculture specifications. In fact, part of the vineyard is grown under organic viticulture for testing purposes.
The estate is also moving towards agroforestry, even if it doesn't mention it as such: the planting of hedges and trees in the heart of the plots encourages the development of a local ecosystem and protects the vines by providing a refuge for auxiliaries such as birds and insects. There are around thirty bird and bat nesting boxes in the vineyard.
All these efforts are rewarded each year by the renewal of the HVE (Haute Valeur Environnementale) and Viticulture Durable en Champagne certifications.
If the credo in the vineyard is respect for the living, the credo in the cellar is respect for the terroir. The ultra-modern winery has been designed for parcel-based winemaking, with the aim of producing gourmet champagnes.
Once the grapes are harvested, they are immediately pressed to preserve the aromatic integrity of the berries. Most of the must is fermented in stainless steel tanks, with only 5% to 15% of the juice fermented in oak barrels, depending on the cuvée. The malolactic fermentations are carried out in stainless steel vats yet blocked in oak barrels.
Racking after fermentation takes place in July, giving the must time to rest and mature on its lees for a few months before the sparkling process begins. The resting phase on slats in the cellar lasts between 16 and 45 months, depending on the cuvée.
The estate's champagnes immediately won me over with their typicity and identity. With great finesse and elegance, they express themselves with charm and delicacy, without exuberance, but with precision and richness. You need to give the wine time to air out in the glass to appreciate its full complexity.
It is with an illuminated letter "D" that the Champagne DOYARD signs its most gorgeous champagnes 1er Cru and Grand Cru. Located in the heart of Vertus, a 1er Cru village of the Cote des Blancs, the domain is one of the two oldest houses existing in Champagne, for they started their wine growing activity in 1677.
Simply farmers and grapes producers in earlier times, the family Doyard has become récoltant-manipulant grower since 4 generations and uses their own grapes to produce their champagnes, which represents approximately 40% of all of the produced grapes. The 60% grapes left are sold to other estates.
The Côte des Blancs is framed by two mounds. To the north, the Saran hillock and, to the south, Mont-Aimé. Along the hills, in contact with the chalky plain, the slopes are relatively gentle, less than 8%. The top of the hillside offers steeper slopes that can reach over 40%.
The vines in this region are essentially located on the Campanian chalk and its alterations. The chalky soils are strongly carbonated and lightly textured. The chalk is very pure, with relatively little erosion. It is made up of a pile of calcareous skeletons and microscopic unicellular algae, sedimented 75 million years ago in warm, shallow sea conditions. The absence of cement bonding the calcite crystals allows the material to retain a high porosity (40% of void) which gives it an excellent water retention capacity, thus ensuring a good soil drainage and a regular supply of water to the vines during the summer months.
The predominant grape variety is Chardonnay, which represents more than 95% of the vineyard, but the village of Vertus stands out with a proportion of approximately 10% of Pinot Noir. The champagnes produced in this vineyard most often use Chardonnay alone, which gives rise to the famous Blanc de Blancs, an elegant wine marked by a beautiful aromatic persistence.
Vineyard plots of the Doyard House are located on the 1er cru Village Vertus and five Grand Crus villages : Oger, Le Mesnil/Oger, Avize, Cramant, et Aÿe.
Yannick DOYARD is running the 10 hectares of vineyards grown in three different farming modes :
The nobility of their champagnes is a real tribute to the History of France that has given Champagne wines all its current prestige : those wines were, with burgundy wines also, amongst the most excellent crus served at Louis XIV table until Fagon, king’s doctor, forbade him to drink them for health reasons.
The GUIBORAT CHAMPAGNE Estate is located in the heart of Cramant, a classified Grand Cru village of Champagne, where the wines have for a long time a strong reputation. Richard Fouquet and his wife Karine, the owners, have 8 hectares of vineyards but they only grow 3 hectares, the remaining surface being used by the Lauret Perrier Champagne Estate.
Born in Paris, Richard took over the formerly run by the grandmother's domain when he was 18 and produced his first vintage in 1996.
The Côte des Blancs is framed by the Saran hillock to the north and by the Mount Aimé to the south. The slopes are gentle at the beginning, less than 8%, but become steeper and steeper and can reach up to 40% at the top of the hillside. The vines in this region are essentially based on Campanian chalk (Upper Cretaceous period from 83 to 70 Ma) and its alterations (chalk gravels).
The Upper Cretaceous is marked by a major transgression due to a general rise in the sea level: the waters arrive from the north-west and cover the Paris basin to the north and the Aquitaine basin to the south, without these two basins meeting. The transgression therefore remains weaker than the one encountered during the Jurassic area.
The Campanian chalk is made up of a pile of microscopic unicellular algae skeletons, sedimented in warm, shallow sea conditions, and forming a calcareous mud that gradually settled over millions of years.
In the Côte des Blancs, the chalk is very pure and has a high porosity which makes it friable and gives it a high water retention capacity. These properties ensure a good soil drainage and a regular water supply for the vines during the summer.
Its other advantage lies in its thermal and hygrometric regulation qualities, which are ideal for the wine conservation in the cellars.
There is no organic certification at Guiborat Estate. But the vines are grown according to the principles of organic farming, without using any chemicals. Treatments are generally based on herbal teas and essential oils. Richard Fouquet departs from this principle only if the weather is bad, when he has to cope with nature and to use chemicals to save the crops. An independence that is dear to him yet deprives him of any official certification.
The vines are 30 to 70 years old, and are planted on parcels shared on the classified Grand Cru communes of Cramant, Oiry, and Chouilly, next to the Saran hill.
Richard Fouquet makes a plot's vinification, meaning that the grapes of each plot are all fermented in separate vats or barrels. But the champagnes are generally made of a blend of plots, except for the exceptional vintages that are also plot's wine (made from grapes of a single plot): this is the case for the champagne Mont-Aigu.
Richard and Karine Fouquet do not cheat with the plot's designation of their cuvees: strict and honest, they classified the wine as a plot's one only if they consider the latest deserves it.
Their champagne's profile is unique. They are wines without any artifices and rarely marked by the wood. A style that they are constantly fine-tuning, little by little, and are trying to make as pur as possible: if for the former wines, the malolactic fermentation were done, the current wines did not the malolactic fermentation. They are classified as Extra-Brut, or Brut Nature when there is no addition of liquor: they are sapid and straight champagnes, a beautiful work!
In the heart of the village "Les Riceys", the Champagne Morel House has been growing vines for more than five generations. Knowledge and skills passed down from father to son in a concern of respect for environment thanks to sustainable cultivation methods.
Besides Champagnes, The House produces the "Rosé des Riceys", a still rosé wine made from pinot noir that is the pride of the house and that we consider as the best rosé of France.
More details about the Morel Père&Fils Champagne House on our blog (written in French).
The Champagne MOUZON-LEROUX is located in the heart of Verzy, on the exceptional Montagne de Reims vineyard where are produced very high quality wines. The landscapes open on the chalky plain, and the slopes where the vines extend are surmounted by woods, among which there is a curiosity: the Faux de Verzy or twisted beeches, so called because of their tortuous trunks and branches, and for which no rational explanation could be given as to their atypical morphology peculiar to the region.
It is in this place full of mystery and legends that Sébastien MOUZON-LEROUX, the worthy representative of the fourth generation, is running the vineyard that the estate has been running from father to son since 1776, using reasoned farming practices that have progressively led the domain to a biodynamic culture in 2008. It obtained the AB Ecocert certification in 2011 : the young vines are worked with the horse, grass production are carried out by sheep and chickens in winter, and the estate introduces shrubs into the vineyards to preserve their biodiversity.
Sébastien is in charge of 8 ha of vines : the vineyard, very fragmented, consists of 60 parcels distributed between the Verzenay and Villers Marmery villages. Soils, of light textured, carbonated, are mainly formed on chalk and on the chalk's alteration, with many slope-wash products. The grape variety consists of a majority of Pinot Noir (60%) planted on the plots located west of Verzy, on Verzenay and Mailly-Champagne villages side, where the soil has a very thick clays layer covering the chalk.
Chardonnay vines (35% of the grape variety) are located east of Verzy, on Villers Marmery and Trépail villages side, where the substrate is lighter and the chalk outcrops, ideal for this variety. The remaining 5% of the vines consist of Arbanne, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris vines.
In the cellar, Sébastien wants keep intervention to the minimum during the different winemaking steps, while ensuring the highest quality for his champagnes. For this, only the harvest, picked at optimum maturity and sorted by cluster, is treat with sulphite. The cuvée (juice obtained after the three first pressing) and the taille (juice obtained after the forth and fifth pressing) are used. The undecanted must is directly put in barrels after pressing.
All fermentations are made in with native microorganisms. The preparation of a native yeasts sourdough starter is systematic to ensure a dynamic alcoholic fermentation's start, because the latter is conditionning all the following winemaking steps. For that, a first grapes picking is carried out before the official harvest and put in fermentation for the production of 50 liters of leaven; a second grape picking is made two or three days later to prepare an additional 600 liters of yeast : at the end, 650 liters of bubbling yeast is available to seed the vats.
The musts make their malolactic fermentation, Sebastien does not want to inhibit it in order to avoid treating the champagnes with sulphites.
The wines are then aged on lees in oak barrels or in vats for 6 months, they are then bottled, without fining or filtering, for the second fermentation and is matured on slats from 24 months to 6 years depending on the champagne. After disgorging, sugar is added with rectified concentrated must to compensate for the liquid loss caused by the dead yeasts expulsion. The wines are aged for another 6 months in the cellar in order the liqueur de dosage to be integrated and the wine stabilized.
This estate is a beautiful discovery, champagnes are well-balanced and very delicate, attesting to a perfect control of the winemaking.
In Rouvres-les-Vignes, a small village in the Aube department located between Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises and the Cistercian abbey of Clairvaux, Nathalie FALMET works in her cellar, amidst oak barrels, stainless steel vats and clay amphorae, to produce gourmet champagnes that are renowned for their quality.
Nathalie FALMET is a rare woman winegrower in the country, she spent her childhood in the middle of the vineyards where she worked to help her father. After studying chemistry at Orsay, she graduated as 'nose' in perfumery and opened her own laboratory in Bar-sur-Aube.
In 1993, she took over the family business and obtained her diploma in oenology: she then used her two skills, the oenological knowledge and the job as a 'nose', to make her champagnes as one would make perfumes.
She works with old Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines, and her cuvées, with the exception of the brut champagne, are not blended champagnes, as she wants to highlight the harvest: the champagnes are mainly wines from a single plot and a single year, but they are not vintage in the administrative sense of the term (official declaration, year engraved on the cork, etc.).
For her, a champagne is the result of three components: the terroir, the plant and also the winemaker, the latter having a considerable influence on the produced wine: "You can only love a wine by appreciating the person who makes it," she says.
Nathalie FALMET also wanted to show us the influence of the containers on the wine style: she gives us the possibility of comparing a Chardonnay made in 10 hl Tuscan jars (cuvée TERRA) with a Chardonnay made in 350-litre oak barrels (cuvée ZH 303); the difference, it is true, is surprising, we were able to realize it during the tasting!
It is the same for the Pinot Noir vines made in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats (Cuvée BRUT NATURE or in 350-litre barrels (Cuvée ZH 318 ).
The history of the region can be divided into three stages:
The terroir of Rouvres-les-Vignes is a soil dating from the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic stage) and composed of alternating limestone and marl beds rich in fossils. Their sedimentation took place in a marine environment, as a vast sinking movement of the earth's crust caused a major marine transgression. The water depth then reached its peak, which favoured limestone deposits and a sedimentation of marls with Ammonites that can be found in the soils of Rouvres-les-Vignes.
The folds and faults formation of the Tertiary period allowed this Jurassic clay-limestone soil to come to the surface and form the bedrock of this vineyard.
"My philosophy of growing the vines, vinification and winemaking is of course the healthiest, as far as the respect of nature is concerned, but it also leads to a purity and unmatched quality of wine.", says Nathalie FALMET.
For this reason, she grows her vines according to the Sustainable Agriculture principles: treatments are only used in case of important cryptogamic attacks.
The grapes are vinified separately by variety and by plot.
Her desire to produce exceptional champagnes destined for a long cellar ageing will condition the entire winemaking process: no oenological products are used, with the exception of sulphites for the harvest and the use of neutral fermenting yeasts in order to let the grape variety and the terroir express themselves without restraints.
The absence of SO2 treatment during the various winemaking processes requires that all the champagnes undergo their malolactic fermentation for two reasons: the first reason is that stopping a malolactic fermentation requires the use of a large dose of sulphites, which is contrary to the estate philosophy, and the second reason is that it guarantees the microbial stability of the wine over time, which is essential for a long cellar ageing. In addition, in order the malolactic fermentation to take place in good conditions, the alcoholic fermentation must be completed beforehand without any incidents. In order to achieve a complete alcoholic fermentation without any risks of aromatic deviations caused by the development of undesirable microorganisms, Nathalie FALMET uses yeasts selected for their strong fermenting capacity and neutral, so that they have no aromatic influence during the fermentation; the only exception is the TERRA cuvée vinified in Tuscan jars, where she does not add any yeast, she lets the native yeasts work.
Once all the fermentations are complete, the champagnes are aged on slats for 18 months for the BRUT cuvée up to 6 years for the ZH 302 cuvée. After disgorging, no sugar is added for the vast majority of the champagne, so as not to influence the aromatic profile obtained. If sugar is added, it is done with a neutral liqueur d’expédition in order to bring a little sweetness to the champagne but without any aromatic influence.
Nathalie FALMET presents 9 champagnes:
Specialized in amphora wines, we offer you a selection of the best white, red and rosé wines vinified in amphorae.
You will find vintages:
- fermented and aged in clay amphorae
- fermented in traditional tanks and aged in clay amphorae
- partially aged in clay amphorae...
...not to mention the rare wines vinified entirely in Qvevris!
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