Cedric Bouchard, Champagne.
Small -scale and artisanal, Champagne’s grower-producers are making some of France’s most distinctive bubbly – at remarkable fair prices. Anselme Selosse makes very interesting comments about his champagne and he says things like ” This one is a country gentleman, with the soil from the fields still on his boots ” or this one is ” a young girl blushing, with the bloom still on her cheeks”. Selosse is not your typical vintner , He is one of an increasing number of grower-producers – winemakers who create Champagne from their own vineyards. Over the past two decades this group has revolutionized the Champagne Industry by providing a compelling alternative to the grand marques that run the show and dominate the market. Also, these champagnes are not too expensive, especially the single-vineyard wines : At around $ 75, Selosse neighbor Larmandier-Bernier’s vieille vigne de Cramant Extra Brut Grand cru is not exactly cheap , but is far less than comparable bottles of Big Houses.
Selosse whose family owns some eighteen acres of Grand cru Vineyards around the village of Avize, studied Onology in Burgundy , home of the most famous individualistic wines in the world. Selosse said that he came to appreciate ” the nobility of viticulture,”that eventually led to a belief that Champagne is an expression of the place, of the soil and weather, a true terroir wine.
When he took over his parents’ land in 1980, he began experimenting with biodynamic philosophy and organic and traditional growing and production techniques. He began planting and fertilizing according to the phases of the moon. A multi- week process of tilting and rotating the bottles to consolidate the yeast sediment – by hand, when almost every house had been doing it by machine. The result was a rich, intense and complex champagne.
The last fifteen years or so with movements like Slow Food have made the idea of artisanal food production increasingly popular, winemakers like Selosse have come to the fore. An American importer, Terry Theise was an early enthusiast of Champagne’s grower-producers – He started bringing in bottles in 1997 and still has the largest portfolio of these Champagnes in the United States. These Champagnes are the products of personalities. They come with a sense of Place, a Narrative, and a point of view. The grower-producers are now thinking more like growers in other regions and producing something that is different from traditional champagne. It is simply a great way to stand out in an already crowded market. Another grower-producer is Cedric Bouchard produces wine that is devoted to terroir as anything as Burgundy. He won a vigneron of the year award from Gault & Millau and only produces 300 hundred cases of His Blanc de Noirs and only 300 or so of bottles of Rose.
After years of notoriously lousy viticulture, the current generation of grower-producers in Champagne is, if not organic, committed to sustainable farming.
New Champagnes to drink.
Cedric Bouchard , Inflorescence Brut Blanc de Noirs. ( Tastes of rich fruit, brioche & Orange Blossoms). Cult Favorite in France, still unknown in the US.
Jacques Selosse, initial Brut Blanc de Blancs grand cru. You can track down a bottle of any of his Champagne. $ 150
Sophie & Pierre Larmandier , produce an entirely biodynamic wine, and the Terre de Vertue is their purest expression du Terroir. $ 75
Selosse Champagne
Anselme Selosse.
Cedric Bouchard
Jacques Belosse.
Pierre Larmandier
Champagne Larmandier -Bernier
Biodynamic Farming is based on the agricultural philosophies of Rudolf Steiner. While biodynamic farming includes organic farm management practises, it also uses specially prepared , natural treatments, incorporating natural rhythms and cycles of the moon and sun, light and warmth.
Read an article from The Guardianweekly about organic wines in Provence, France. Wine Growers in Provence are turning to chemical-free garpe Farming.
