While the nearly 16,000 small growers in Champagne own 90 per cent of the region’s vineyards, 80 per cent of them supply the grapes they grow to the big champagne brands and co-operatives.
The grower champagne movement, which began in the 1980s with these producers experimenting with their own labels, continues to expand and flourish.
But as Robert Walters writes in his excellent new book, Bursting Bubbles: A Secret History of Champagne and the Rise of the Great Growers, only a small percentage of the artisanal producers who make their own champagne under their own labels produce exceptional wine.
Those really worth exploring range from top growers such as Agrapart to Larmandier-Bernier, through to labels such as Veuve Fourny & Fils and Bernard Brémont, which produce more value-for-money propositions.
Take your pick, and enjoy.
1. Agrapart Terroirs Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru NV – $115
Made by one of the great grower champagne producers, this 100 per cent chardonnay blanc de blancs was created from a blend of entirely grand cru-rated fruit. It spent up to 48 months on lees before being bottled with a low sugar dosage of about 5g/l. The result is a scintillating wine that’s pure, minerally and precise.
2. Bernard Brémont Grand Cru Brut NV – $62
Imported by Charles “Chilly” Hargrave, the retired chief sparkling winemaker for Treasury Wine Estates, this is a blend of 70 per cent pinot and 30 per cent chardonnay, using all grand cru-rated fruit from Ambonnay, where Brémont is based. The stock in Australia was disgorged in March 2015. With its core of red fruits and toasty/fresh dough notes, it’s in a great state to drink right now.
3. Jacquesson Cuvée 739 Extra Brut – $105
While Jacquesson isn’t a grower producer, it owns 28 hectares and buys fruit from just another eight, having deliberately shrunk in size to protect the quality of its wines. A blend of 57 per cent chardonnay, 21 per cent pinot noir and 22 per cent pinot meunier, this is labelled Extra Brut, meaning the dosage or residual sugar is less than 6g/l, thereby preserving the wine’s inherent purity and elegance.
4. Larmandier-Bernier Latitude Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs – $90
I took up author Robert Walters’ suggestion of accentuating the aromatics of this superb grower champagne by drinking it out of a wine glass rather than a flute, and at a temperature not nearly as cold as champagne is normally served at. It’s a good tip. Even though this is made from 100 per cent chardonnay, it’s richer, more textured and vinous than many blanc de blancs, due in part to the clay-heavy vineyards in Vertus that the fruit comes from. With power and complexity, it’s more food wine than aperitif.
5. Veuve Fourny Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru – $65
As you might have noticed, I have a thing for blanc de blancs champagne, which are often finer and more elegant than other champagnes. Veuve Fourny is imported by the Yarra Valley’s De Bortoli Wines, I’m guessing primarily so that chief winemaker Steve Webber and his wife Leanne De Bortoli can drink it! Like most good grower champagnes, the sugar dosage is low to emphasise the fruit and where it’s grown. A complex wine underpinned by freshness and purity.
