2016 PRINTEMPS DES CHAMPAGNES TASTING

Talented winegrowers meeting for a day of wine tastings to make us discover their specificities and share their passion for champagne; a promising and interesting experience in the gorgeous Chateau de Pierry, the 16th and 17th April to find out more about the 2015 vins clairs and their cuvées.

Origines Champagne – discover the diversity

10 original and talented producers for one appellation, a multitudes of terroirs and styles but one common goal : the excellence of their work and their champagnes; that is the philosophy of the group Origines Champagne. Women and men spread over the Champagne area grouping together to share their passion of champagne and their view of their work, to exchange their ideas and their experiences. A representation of the multiple facets of Champagne and champagne.

Printemps des champagnes tasting at Pierry

Located only a few minutes away from the famous Avenue de Champagne of Epernay, the Chateau de Pierry host us under a warn and radiant sun for a unique event around champagne. The place sparkles, all the invited wine professionals enter in this exceptional site by the garden where they can exchange later their impressions on the cuvées under the gaze of the cherub statues.
Inside, everyone begins by tasting the vins clairs of each producers in the XVIIe century charm and luxury of the Chateau de Pierry. A way to discover the diversity of the terroirs of Champagne and an overview of the juice of the year. Already at this stage, the wines have distinct and clear styles, announcing promising champagne tastings. The experience continues by entering in a vintage lounge where each winegrower has his own space to exchange about his passion and his champagnes.

The taste buds and all the senses are awaken by the vins clairs tastings, impatient to taste all the cuvées. Different terroir specificities and distinctive ways to work, each winemaker has its own style with recognizable signature in their champagnes.

Terroir by Terroir

Once the lounge doorstep crossed, it is a true vineyard trip with 11 producers from different crus. Among them,  Patrick and Valérie Renaux from champagne Soutiran Grand Cru in Ambonnay, who always welcome visitors with a ready smile to make us taste complex wines with strong personality. Their champagnes are the perfect expression of their terroir dressed in haute-couture bottles.
Champagne Vauversin located in the village of Oger, decided to convert his vineyard to organic method with the new generation; His organic wines reflects the mineral influences of the soil offering freshness and delicacy on the palate.
Champagne Florence Duchêne offers 3 cuvées with Filipino names and made without the malolactic fermentation to enable crisp and vivacity. The Pinot Noirs brings aromas close to wine vinified in oak and the cuvée surprise, a Coteaux Champenois, reveals slightly woody and smoked aromas with a fruity finish on cherry notes.
Benoit Déhu, winemaker in Fossoy, sublimates the Pinot Meunier with biodynamic and complex champagnes which are the perfect interpretation of what the nature offered him. He even makes his own oak barrels with the wood coming from the family estate producing multifaceted and precise wines that match perfectly gastronomic cuisine.
Jérôme Bourgeois, from Champagne Bourgeois Diaz in Crouttes sur Marne, is the 4th generation of winemaker, he creates pure and mineral wines. The winegrower explains that he decided to convert the vineyard to respect biodynamic and organic practices when he returned to the family domain in 2000 in order to emphase the quality of the grapes and have the best terroir expression.

Nathalie Falmet is the first woman to have both winemaker and oenologist qualifications and she is in perpetual research for perfection through her work. Located in Rouvres Les Vignes, she favors fruity wines with natural maturity of grapes rather than with the dosage, letting the grapes and terroir express themselves.
Champagne Maurice Grumier is using viticulture certified “Haute Valeur Environnementale” to preserve the unique style of each vine parcel. Fabien Grumier makes every efforts to respect and keep alive his terroir, producing balanced champagnes with strong distinctive and assertive styles.
Tristan Hyest from the house Tristan H., used the family experience to express his passion, his terroir and his know-how through his cuvées. His wines offer a large palette of tastes and he creates powerful and structured champagnes in a pure traditional way.
Pierre Amillet represents the champagne Robert Moncuit with 3 cuvées in 100% Chardonnay including a Solera that offers complex aromas from the perpetual blending. Pierre manages to respect his terroir, located in Le Mesnil sur Oger, with sustainable practices in order to retain the true identity of the soil.
5th generation grower, Nicolas Salomon from the champagne Denis Salomon, perpetuates the family and champagne tradition through his work. The cuvées of the house are extremely expressive with the authenticity of the terroir – a perfect mix of modernity and traditional method.

A petit plus of the tasting, Champagne Louis Dousset is presenting his wine as a guest of the event, revealing us the secret of their terroir. Jean-Roch Flochet offers us a selection of cuvées with distinctive and contemporary style reflecting the quality of both the vineyard and the grapes. The champagnes are harmonious and elegant with audacious and complex aromas.

Thanks to Origines Champagne, the wine professional visitors shared, discovered and exchanged champagne diversity during this unique tasting of winegrower champagnes.