Debate a Bubble - Champagne News and Reviews

Off the beaten track in Champagne

Whilst it’s difficult to beat the big champagne houses for glamour and sheer elegance, there’s a lot more to champagne than just these well-known names. The small, independent grape growers and champagne makers offer a quite different experience and it is arguably amongst these many thousand small companies that the real heart of champagne is to be found – did you know, for example, that not a single one of the big
‘ names ‘ have enough vineyards to supply the grapes they need to produce all the millions of bottles they sell every year?

Some brands such as Lanson and Pommery have no vineyards of their own at all. Others own vineyards to cover only between 10 – 25% of their grape requirements, whilst those that can produce as much as 70% of the grapes they need are very few indeed.

So where do they get the rest of the grapes ? Yes, they buy them on the open market from smaller, independent grape growers and champagne makers. Usually the big brands are demanding as regards the quality of the grapes they buy in, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that every small champagne maker is going to keep back a good proportion of their best grapes to make their own champagne. The trouble is that finding these champagnes is not always easy because the smaller makers are not always great at self-publicity.

Take Domaines des Champagne Leclaire, for example

This family-owned company was founded way back in 1878 and the current owners Raynald and Virginie Leclaire represent the 6th generation of the family to follow in the footsteps of the founder Ernest Alfred Leclaire. The picture, taken in their cellars, shows Raynald in the centre, with his father to the right and his children too who, in a few years, will probably be the 7th generation of family champagne makers.

The family home is in the main street of the village of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, but you won’t find any signs outside – in fact it’s a bit of a challenge finding the door bell ! However, once you’re inside, and have manoeuvred past the four children and the golf bag and trolley in the middle of the hall, the hospitality and the champagne are great.

Virginie runs the commercial side of things and has secured business with several fine restaurants in France, whilst Raynald handles the champagne making. In fact, champagne making is only part of what Raynald does. His other job is as a ‘courtier ‘ or grape broker – he sources, buys and sells grapes acting on behalf of whoever is in the market. His many years experience as a broker, mean he is highly regarded and he certainly knows a thing or two about grapes and about good champagne.

Champagnes Leclaire itself has only 6 hectares of vines and makes a range of champagnes using only grapes from their own vineyards. Because they are not as commercially driven as some larger companies they can afford themselves the luxury of leaving their champagnes to age a long time.

Their youngest champagne is Cuvée Sainte Apolline, named after one of their daughters, is what is called a non-declared vintage – all the grapes in the champagne were harvested in 1998 so technically it is a vintage champagne, but it was never declared as such to the authorities. It’s a Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs ( 100 % Chardonnay ) and has all the complex flavours and aromas that long ageing produces.

The other champagnes in the Leclaire range are Cuvée de la Princerie, a vintage 1996, and three more non-declared vintages :
Cuvée Carte D’or from 1993,
Cuvée Spéciale from 1991 and last, but not least
Cuvée Ernest Alfred Leclaire from1976, although there are precious few bottles of this left.

Old champagnes are an acquired taste and they don’t suit everyone, but if you do enjoy this style then Champagnes Leclaire are well worth a try.

England's newest vineyard

Some of you will already have read about Didier and Imogen Whitaker who, with their partners Syd and Mary Chaplin, recently became the first champagne makers to plant vines in England to make sparkling wine.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/11/28/nalco28.xml

Of course there are already several vineyards in England making sparkling wine, but none of them are run by people who are first and foremost champagne makers from the Champagne region.

I know Didier and Imogen very well having lived in Champagne for 9 years myself, so when I heard that they would be over in England the other week I thought I’d pop down to Hampshire to see them and their new vineyard.

Perhaps it was because it was a perfect English summer’s day, but the closer I got to the vineyard the more beautiful the Hampshire countryside seemed and the location of the vineyard itself was breathtaking: set on a wide, south-facing slope, the vineyard looks down into a little vale with the sea shimmering in the distant and an ancient hill fort not far away to the side. There was an atmosphere about the place that was almost magical.

It was evening when I arrived and Didier was still out in the vineyard weeding and generally making sure that his beloved vines are receiving all the care and attention they need. Working this way is second nature to Didier. Of course he employed other people to do some of the initial tractoring, planting and driving-in of stakes, but everything takes place under his careful supervision and more often than not it’s Didier himself who is doing the work. (The picture above shows him in his vineyard in Champagne. ) It’s indicative of the almost obsessive commitment to producing nothing but the best that he brings to making his wonderful champagne in France and is something you don’t always find amongst the larger, more industrial-scale producers.

Perhaps it was just me, but there was also a sense of something fantastic in the making. A brand new vineyard taking shape before my very eyes and the realisation of a project that most of us would never contemplate taking on, because of the investment required and the sheer hard work needed.

Even as a spectator, it was really exciting to be there and I can’t wait to sample the first sparkling wines in a few years’ time - they promise to be very special : the soil has been analysed in detail and the flinty top soil and chalk base-rock have been judged ideal, ( who knows, even the old tail-fins off second-world-war German bombs that the tractors have turned up in abundance, may add something to the final blend ). The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines are planted and beginning to push forth leaves and shoots, and a fence has been put all around the vineyard to thwart the attentions of the hungry deer and hares.

All we have to do is be patient for a few years while Didier, and Imogen work their magic and in the meantime we have their champagne to be getting on with. My own favourite - and I’ve checked this out on many a bottle, just to be sure of the quality you understand - is the Pierson Whitaker Réserve, a Premier Cru blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir, but Pierson Whitaker Rosé is also fabulous and not just for the beautiful frosted bottle and silver label; it won 2 stars in the latest Guide Hachette.

Bed & Breakfast in Champagne

I ran a B&B from our house in Verzy. It was a lot of fun and a lot of hard work. I remember once we had a French family who were attending a wedding in the village, and they got so drunk that when they eventually returned, they forgot where we were and proceeded to bang on the door of our neighbours, at 6am! Another time, we thought we had three people booked in, and when they came through for breakfast the following morning, there were six - just some people they'd met at the wedding who had no-where to sleep! On occasions like this they'd return around 5 or 6am and then sleep until midday - making it quite difficult to turn the room around for the following evening.

It's a fun way to meet people, especially doing dinner as I did, and you certainly get a good cross-section!

My friend Imogen Whitaker runs a B&B from her elegant 18th century house in Avize in the Cotes des Blancs, you can find her in Alistair Sawday's guide Special Places to Stay in France.

When I lived there, there were very few good places to stay, but Imogen tells me that there are more and more every year. But are they any good?

Not many people know that

You all probably remember from school days that in French there's an exception to every rule and champagne is just the same.

You will have seen above that there are no Grand Cru villages in areas that grow Pinot Meunier grapes and consequently no Pinot Meunier grapes can be Grand Cru – at least that's the theory and that's what you will read in all the guide books on champagne.

Bizarrely however, the Grand Cru classification is given to whatever grapes are grown in a village,
and although it is a rarity, there has been a Grand Cru 100% Pinot Meunier champagne produced from a vineyard that was originally awarded Grand Cru status for Pinot Noir grapes.

What to look for in a ' good ' champagne

People sometimes ask me what I think is the best champagne in the world. The answer is simple : it's the one YOU like best and it's very much a matter of personal taste. However there are some things you can look out for that will act as a guide to whether a champagne is ' good ' or not and whether it might suit your taste.

The unfortunate thing is that little or no information is given out by any of the well-known brands on any of these subjects and what they do grudgingly divulge is too often mere marketing-babble couched in glorified prose designed to wrap you up in imagery rather than fact. Of course champagne demands a bit of romancing and we appreciate champagne all the more for that, but surely it wouldn't be too difficult to provide a bit of information as well? No, of course not, and in fact there's not a huge amount you need to know.

Although making champagne is a complex process that is almost continuous throughout all 12 months of the year, there are really only 3 elements that can actually have a significant impact on the quality of the finished product. They are:

1 ) The quality of the grapes – as any chef will tell you, you have a much better chances of cooking a great dish if you have good quality ingredients. It's not a guarantee of success, but it does give you head start.

The Grape Quality Scale / L'Echelle des Crus

There are some 330 villages in Champagne. Each one grows its own grapes and each village ( and by extension the grapes from that village ) has been given a quality rating by the authorities that govern the trade. The ratings were determined back in 1930's and although they are regularly reviewed there have been few changes since that time.

The Quality Scale ( Echelle des Crus ) takes into account all the many factors that affect the grapes : the soil, the exposure of the vineyards to the sun, whether or not the vineyards are sheltered from the prevailing wind and many other criteria. The rating is expressed as a percentage, with 100% being the ultimate in quality and the percentage indicating the proportion of the bench-mark price that one would have to pay to buy grapes from any given village.

Most villages - 250 or more - have been given the status of Cru meaning that they are rated at between 80% and 89% quality.

41 villages are in the rank above and are called Premier Cru: they are rated between 90% and 99%

Only 17 villages appear in the top category. These are rated 100% and are called Grand Cru
There are 6 Grand Cru villages in The C‏ôte des Blancs ( famous for its Chardonnay grapes ) and
11 in the Montagne de Reims ( renowned for its Pinot Noirs grapes )

Champagne makers are entitled to put the quality of their grapes on the front label of the bottle, but if there is a mixture of different qualities in the champagne the entire blend takes the lowest rating, so a blend of 75 % Grand Cru and 25 % Cru must be rated as only Cru.

The finest champagne house

Robert Parker, the world's most influential wine writer, describes François Hémart Brut as

' one of the finest non-vintage cuvées available in the marketplace '

The house of Giraud Hémart in the village of Ay produces vintage champagne under the Henri Giraud label and non-vintage under the name of François Hémart. All their champagnes are aged in oak barrels for at least 6 months which brings depth of flavour and a smooth texture and Giraud Hémart is the only champagne maker who still uses oak from local forests.

François Hémart Brut is a blend of 70 % Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The grapes all come from prime vineyards on south-facing plots overlooking Ay.

With a rich amber colour and a wonderful array of flavours and aromas including peaches and citrus fruit, this champagne is a delight to all the senses.