Champagne – more than just a brand

THE Champagne appellation is as complex as any in France and the styles of Champagne show a range which is more complicated than the Burgundy region. With this is mind my wife and I caught up with our friend Phill Meyer in the Champagne village of Moussy.

Phill is an expert in French wines and is a partner in Melbourne based Wisdom and Wine. He was here to pay a visit to R Renaudin and taste the producer’s Champagne and negotiate a deal, perhaps.

We ate supper in the Auberge Champenoise and, naturally, we drank a pre-dinner bottle of the house Champagne. “There is too much dosage” opined Phill, referring to the amount of syrup added to the wine to maintain the level of sweetness. We had some frank discussion about the red wine that we would drink with our food. “I’ll let you two decide” said Phill. My wife was born in Champagne so we settled for a bottle of Bouzy rouge. Our discussion turned to Champagne itself and the major participants in the market.

Champagne is probably the best known brand name in the wine world. I do not think that a good bottle of this exquisite brew can be rivalled by any other sparkling wine.  For a celebration the name Champagne is always on my lips: I am afraid Cava just does not fit the bill.

Phill was in Champagne to find a wine from an excellent grower producer to add to his sales range.

We both agreed that a high quality wine can only be made by an excellent winemaker using high quality grapes. Therefore, you need to select your producer most carefully as there is still a lot of poor quality wine around. This is why most people stick to the well known brand names. Phill believes that it pays dividends, however, to find a top class grower producer to find an individual style at a reasonable price. Who am I to disagree with that?

The whole of Champagne has about 33,000 hectares under vines and these are located in 319 villages. There are about 5,300 growers who produce their own wines and there are more than 15,000 growers who do not make the wine themselves but sell their grapes to négociants and co-operatives.

Champagne is classified by the reputation of the village rather than the individual vineyard. Of the 319 villages in the whole of Champagne only 17 villages have grand cru status and only 43 have premier cru. These villages are concentrated near the towns of Reims and Epernay. All other villages produce standard appellation Champagne.

The importance of names cannot be over emphasised and it is the single grower producer who makes the most interesting Champagne. But, first let us look at the other main players in the market.
The Négociants

You cannot discuss Champagne without talking about the négociants or merchant houses that dominate the market with around 70% of sales. All the négociants blend their wines so that they have a consistent and recognisable style particular to the brand. They cannot grow enough of their own grapes to meet the demand for their wine so they buy in supplies from independent growers or co-operatives.

Every Champagne lover will have tasted a non-vintage wine from a famous négociant. The brand names are so well known they are almost guaranteed sales – look for the initials NM (Négociant Manipulant) on the label.

Co-operative Wines

A typical example of co-operative Champagne is the one that we were drinking in restaurant bar. The Auberge buys from a co-operative in the neighbouring village of Pierry and sells it in the restaurant under its own name.

 A co-operative is a union of small growers who do not make their own wine but who band together to make the Champagne at the co-operative’s cellars. The wine is then sold to public, under the name of the co-operative, or to a restaurant, or to a négociant for inclusion in their blend. Co-operative wines are usually good but rarely outstanding but beware some of them are hardly fit to be drunk at a barbeque let alone an important occasion.

Outside of France you will rarely find a co-operative wine but many French people drink and enjoy them. If ever you are in France, look for CM (Co-operative Manipulant) on the label.

Grower producers

The grower producers make the most interesting wine but you must find a good one by either tasting the Champagne for yourself or being recommended one by a reputable supplier or magazine. Many families, from Champagne, know a good grower producer and our family know several.

Most grower producers have a small production and make fewer than 10,000 bottles per year. They are usually independent family run businesses.

Phill is particularly interested in the quality and expertise of the producer and the terroir of the vineyard. Terroir is quite a difficult concept to explain but it describes the combination of natural factors which affect the quality of the grapes, namely: the composition of the soil, the location and topography of the vineyard and the micro-climate.

 If the winemaker has the expertise to exploit it, the terroir factor can be reflected in the taste and quality of the wine. Thus, each grower producer will have his own individual style based on his growing techniques, grape selection, winemaking methods and, of course, terroir. Look for RM on the label as some of these wines are outstanding in their class. The following makers were part of our conversations.

R Renaudin from Moussy

Renaudin is typical of a fine grower producer and we decided to buy some of his wine before we met Phill. We made an unannounced visit to the house on a busy day so we did not ask to taste the Champagne. We bought a case of the non- vintage Brut on trust that Phill would not visit a bad producer.

We were not disappointed when we tasted the wine with our family in Troyes. As you can imagine they all have strong opinions and prefer their own favourite producers.  As my wife said “they all agreed that the Champagne was excellent and had the traditional taste that they all preferred.”

We thought that it tasted like a much more refined version of the Auberge Champagne but drier and more concentrated and complex. The taste lingered on the palate for a long time. It had all the hallmarks of a very good wine. Renaudin produces non-vintage wines from grapes grown just above the village of Moussy.

Renaudin also makes a premier cru wine but appellation rules dictate that the grapes must be grown exclusively in a premier cru designated village; so grapes from parcels of vines from the neighbouring village of Pierry are used to produce this wine. Such is the complexity of the appellation system.

Hopefully, Phill and his partner Greg were able to strike a good deal so that Australian buyers can try this fine and traditional tasting Champagne with an individual style.

Benoît Lahaye from Bouzy

The French side of my family have known this producer for a good many years. Benoît took over production from his father, Serge, in the mid 1990s. They farm about 5 hectares in Bouzy which is one of the top grand cru villages on the Montagne de Reims.

The soil is cretaceous chalk here and it is exactly suited to the production of the very best Champagne. Benoît has changed to organic and bio-dynamic viticultural methods and uses a horse to till some of his soil. No artificial fertilisers or pesticides are used in the vineyard and one thing is not in doubt; the grapes are tended with meticulous and loving care and this is reflected in the quality of the wine.

Organic farming and changes to the method of production have completely changed the style of his Champagne and we discussed this with Phill. Some producers feel that their organic wines are cleaner on the palate. I am of the view that it is difficult to tell whether a top quality wine has been made by organic techniques or not - especially at a blind tasting.

We always have a stock of Benoît’s Brut Essential Grand Cru. This non-vintage Champagne is made from 90% Pinot Noir and 10% Chardonnay.  Benoît has changed the flavour and style of the wine so that it is now lighter and less intensely flavoured.  This does not mean that the complexity of the wine or its length on the palate has been sacrificed; if anything these attributes have been accentuated.

His style of wine appeals more to international tastes and needless to say the family in Troyes prefer the more traditional character which was produced by Serge. My wife and I still love the old and the new as in international circles you soon learn to sit on the fence.

His vintage Champagne and Prestige Blanc de Noirs are certainly ones to watch. Benoît Lahaye is gaining a serious international reputation for his exquisite wines which can be laid down to mature and improve for many years to come.

Champagne Fluteau from Gye sur Seine in the Aube

Fluteau is a family run producer not far from Bar sur Seine and Wine and Wisdom feature their Blanc de Noirs. The Aube is in the far south of the Champagne region; about 6,500 hectares of vines are farmed here on soil which is more akin to the Chablis area of neighbouring Burgundy.

The soil is chalk based marl derived from Portlandian and Kimmeridgian limestone. It is completely different to the cretaceous chalk soil in the more illustrious areas of the Marne and the Montagne de Reims much further north. But, the terroir here is exactly suited to the growth of the Pinot Noir grape so it is no wonder that Chateau Fluteau Blanc de Noirs has won prizes.

My wife and I find that Aube Champagnes are fruitier in style with a mineral edge. Our family love this style of Champagne and know a good number of grower producers but we shall make sure to pay a visit to Chateau Fluteau the next time we are in the area.

If ever you are in the Aube, then why not pay a visit as well to our favourite producers: Albans d’Aulb at Buxeuil; Daniel Leclerc at Polisot and Cheurlin Dangin at Celles sur Ource. As a Champagne lover you will not be disappointed.

Champagne Geoffroy from Ay

We tasted their Champagne at the Lille Wine Fair just before Christmas: my wife insisted that we stopped to buy even though we were heavily laden with other wine. We sampled some of their non-vintage Empreinte Brut Premier Cru and it was excellent.

Geoffroy uses “la lutte raisonnée” or “the reasonable struggle” farming techniques, this method leaves the vines to develop naturally unless they look like they are unable to thrive.  Artificial fertilisers or pesticides would then be used to ensure that the crop remains healthy. This contrasts to the bio-dynamic methods used by Benoît Lahaye or the farming techniques of the vast majority of producers who use artificial pesticides and fertilisers as a matter of course. Geoffroy’s Champagne genuinely reflects the terroir of Cumières, which is situated on the banks of the Marne, and the care of the grapes is reflected in the taste and quality of the wine.

To sum up, individual style and quality is all a result of the terroir, the farming methods, the wine making techniques and the expertise of the producer. Phill has been making this case for years. So, Champagne is more than just a brand name.  Find a good supplier and look for RM on the label to find out why there is no other sparkling wine that can rival a top class Champagne.