Sotheby’s Wine is delighted to announce the arrival of a care package of grower Champagne protagonists: Jérôme Prévost, Emmanuel Brochet and Cédric Bouchard. You can argue that any one of this trio is the headline act, as each offers some of the most distinctive, desirable and high-quality experiences in artisanal Champagne today.
Emmanuel Brochet is the grower most closely associated with Lieu Dit ‘Le Mont Benoit’ (also of Savart fame), in Reims’ Petite Montagne. The 2017 base is accompanied with 70% reserve wine, owing to the harsh spring frosts of the vintage. Blending 40% of Pinots Noir and Meunier with 30% of Chardonnay, the wine is first fermented in oak barrels for textural amplitude and subtle toasty richness. It is a masterclass in achieving chiseled mineral structure and a similarly mineral theme to the flavor profile, tempered only at Extra Brut level of dosage.
Remaining in the Montagne de Reims, we move to La Closerie and the realm of Jérôme Prévost. Tutored by Anselme Selosse (whose cellars were used for Prévost’s first wines), the wines have become elusive to many, but remain thrilling to behold. Les Béguines is at once a revered two-hectare plot and a shining example of where to begin when crafting monovarietal Pinot Meunier. Single-vintage, oak-fermented, neither fined nor filtered and matured on lees 15-18 months (hence the lack of vintage declaration), this retains electric energy – even in the case of the 2010 offered here. A more recent addition to the line-up is Esperluette (&), offered here in 2018. Splitting roughly one-fifth Les Béguines Meuniers and those from elsewhere in Gueux, expect a more lifted, dainty and lightly saline experience.
The southerly Côte des Bar is awash with talented growers. Cédric Bouchard’s Roses de Jeanne has always made single-vintage, single-vineyard wines from these marlaceous soils, not unlike those found in Chablis. His approach to winemaking is decidedly minimal: only the initial cuvée juice used (for delicacy), stainless steel for ferments (for aromatic potential), native yeasts (for yet more aromatic potential) and no dosage (for purity of style). Côte de Val Vilaine is 100% Pinot Noir usually released the most promptly and whilst vibrant, in the case of the 2017 available here.
If you’ve been putting off getting into grower Champagnes, here is a great chance to dive in!
