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Champagne’s Artisan Families

By Sylvia Jansen, DipWSET, CSW, Sommelier

Welcome to Champagne, the wine region northeast of Paris where you can drink Champagne every day, and no one gives you a second glance. Champagne is often imitated but at its best, never duplicated.

Champagne’s wine market is dominated by a few big-name houses, yet there are more than 350 small houses and some 16,000 vine growers, many of whom also make their own Champagnes. These families operate on tight budgets in a highly regulated region. Last winter, our long-time buyer Gary Hewitt took a virtual tour with a number of growers to find a few new Champagnes. He was able to assemble a staff tasting session with more than 20 wines, after which we agreed to bring in nine new Champagnes from four small estates: Arneau Moreau, Guillaume Marteaux, Pinot-Chevauchet, and Louise Brison.

Like others in our Champagne collection, these are families committed to quality. They all practice sustainable or organic vineyard practices. Their winemaking is artisanal and unhurried: they all far exceed the rules in Champagne for second fermentation and lees ageing (time in bottle for creating bubbles and the depth of character for which these wines are famous). Whereas rules require a minimum of 15 months in bottle before release (3 years for vintage), many of these producers more than double the required ageing—5 to 8 years or longer. Each wine shows its unique personality and enchanting depth of character, worth drinking every day.

Champagne Arnaud Moreau

Arnaud Moreau Rosé Grand Cru (Bouzy) (nv/$85.99); Blanc de Blancs Cuvée Érynne (2016/$143.99); Tradition Grand Cru (Bouzy) (nv/$73.99)

This tiny 4-hectare estate in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy (south side of the Montagne de Reims) produces fewer than 20,000 bottles a year. Arnaud Moreau returned to the estate when his father passed away in 2007. While he had started a successful career as a computer expert, including software, sales, and teaching, his return to the family business has meant launching a new chapter. Today, his Champagnes are offered in Michelinstar restaurants, intimate wine bars, and a few discriminating wine retailers that pass muster.

In conversation with Arnaud, we discovered that in addition to being a producer of beautiful Champagnes in high demand and short supply, he also has a serious interest in hockey. The Reims hockey team Phénix proudly hit the ice with Arnaud Moreau jerseys—something we in Canada can appreciate. We are privileged to partner with Arnaud Moreau to bring you three beautiful cuvées.

Guillaume Marteaux Cuvée

Essentiel Brut (nv/$63.99); Cuvée Esprit Terroirs Brut Nature (2012/$94.99); Cuvée Excellence Rosé Brut (nv/$74.99)

Champagne Guillaume Marteaux is from the small village of Bonneil along the Vallée de la Marne. The steep vineyards surround these villages in a natural south-facing amphitheatre. The family’s heritage as vine plant experts goes back to Guillaume’s grandfather, who was sought-after to walk through vineyards, scan the vines, and select the best cuttings (a process called massal selection). Guillaume’s parents continue daily vineyard inspections (even though they are retired and do not count themselves among the four estate employees).

The family’s deep respect for plant diversity, the environment, and a gentle approach to winemaking continues today. Their wines are largely based on (Pinot) Meunier, with a special approach to reserve wines, the older vintages that are blended into nonvintage Champagnes. Most producers use some combination of older vintages; at Guillaume Marteaux, they use a tank they call la perpétuelle that is never fully emptied. For the past 20 years, this has been topped up with younger wines, giving their reserve wine a distinctive character and all Guillaume Marteaux Champagnes a special signature.

Champagne Pinot-Chevauchet

Pinot-Chevauchet Joyeuse Brut (nv/$69.99)

Champagne Pinot-Chevauchet is a fourthgeneration grower and Champagne producer with a 4-hectare estate a few kilometres south of Épernay. The estate bears the name of the marriage between the Pinot and Chevauchet families. Didier Chevauchet still heads the small team of six people (sometimes his two children come to help, even though they are still studying). The spirit of the house is based in excellence and respect for the environment. They farm organically and ensure their overall carbon footprint is as low as possible; the estate is certified High Environmental Value (HEV) and Viticulture Durable en Champagne (VDC).

Using 100% estate fruit, the Chevauchet family brings only the finest fruit possible and uses careful, low-intervention winemaking. Again, the combination of beautiful fruit and long lees ageing is key to quality. Their small annual production of just over 30,000 bottles goes to fine restaurants, wine bars in France, and just a few wine merchants elsewhere. Baudouin Briquet, who helps with sales and export, has expressed the team’s excitement to be partnering with Jones & Company to bring their wine to Manitoba.

Champagne Louise Brison

Louise Brison Cuvée Tendresse Blanc de Blancs Brut (2011/$99.99); Millesime Brut (2014/$81.99)

Champagne Louise Brison is a small estate in the most southerly region of Champagne, the Côte des Bar, anchored by the city of Troyes (closer to Chablis than to the rest of Champagne). This region is one of the most exciting parts of Champagne, and this organically farmed estate is one of its leaders. Louise Brison is headed today by her great-granddaughter Delphine Brulez, whose passion drives her to reach for the best, the most balanced, and the most beautiful expression of Champagne. Delphine explains that these soils and terroir are more Burgundian. As the selfdescribed “translator of the soil, the vine and the fruit,” Delphine’s approach is to produce single vintage wines only, using Burgundian oak barrel fermentation and maturation for the first fermentation.

With beautiful fruit from older vines (the average age of their vines is 35 to 40 years, something quite unusual in Champagne), Delphine makes wines with vibrancy and balance to accompany food. The Champagnes are aged on lees between 5 and 8 years—resulting in a beautiful knitting together of character. In fact, we dubbed these “steakhouse Champagnes” because they deserve to be brought into the main course—for steak lovers and vegetarians alike!