2017 PRINTEMPS DES CHAMPAGNES TASTING

Terroirs, grapes variety, vinification and above all, barrel types… Le Cercle des Créateurs de Champagnes Confidentiels was presenting their clear wines as well as their champagnes cuvées during their tasting, part of the Printemps des Champagnes. A wonderful opportunity for professionals from all over the world to discover the subtlety of the work with wood barrels.

Prestige at Gabrielle-Dorziat Theater

Le Cercle des Créateurs de Champagnes Confidentiels is an association of 9 winegrowers of Champagne who share the same desire to raise awareness on the work with oak barrels : its tailor-made expertise and the demanding nature of this approach to create rare, confidential, complexe and expressive  wines. This Saturday 22nd of April, the Theater of Gabrielle-Dorziat in Epernay – capital of Champagne –  hosted the 9 winegrowers of the Appellation. The opportunity for them to present their clear wines from the last harvest as well as their champagnes, including a confidential oak aged cuvée.

Located in the heart of the vineyard of Champagne, the magnificent Gabriel-Dorziat theater in the style of Louis XV was built in 1898. Many famous artists took part in the construction and embellishment of the institution including Stanislas Loison – creator of the theaters of Tours and Cherbourg -, the sculptor Georges Trugard and the official painter of Belle-Epoque – Georges Clairin but also the sculptor Joseph Ascoli who symbolized « the vine from champagne inspiring the theatrical art » on the pediment of the superior facade. Inaugurate with great pomp in 1902, the building was the heart of the resistance of the occupiers to the liberation of the city. It is in this prestigious, historic and cultural place that the association Le Cercle des Créateurs de Champagnes Confidentiels set up a meeting with professionals from all over the world for a confidential tasting…

Food pairings, 2017 clear wines and ‘cuvées confidentielles’

The event started on the morning with a MasterClass animated by Franck Wolfert – Trainer for 20 years in tasting Champagne wines for Vins et Atmosphere and co-author of the book « Champagne la fièvre créatrice ». The expert introduced the confidential cuvées of the group with some delicate and original food-pairings. Among them, the Champagne Sophie Cossy and Benoît Diot were paired with a lightly grilled rouget. As for Champagne Albin Martinot and Piot-Sévillano, a white sausage in puff pastry enhanced perfectly the cuvées.

During the tasting, two specificities… The first one : the winemakers were presenting this year’s clear wine : expressive wines showing already a great potential for well-balanced and generous cuvées. The second one : their confidential cuvées made in oak casks with highly-individual expression of their terroir, their location of origin but also their soil, their grape varieties, the wine-making process, casks, heating….

Portrait of the Créateurs

Le Cercle des Créateurs de Champagnes Confidentiels, it is also an association of 9 off-the-wall winegrowers who share their passion as well as their good spirits.

Albin et Peggy of Champagne Albin Martinot from Jully-sur-Sarce in the Côte des Bar have at their disposal a rich and varied terroir divided on six different crus of the Côte des Bars. The clay and chalky soil brings fineness and minerality to their harmonious and aromatic cuvées.

From the right bank of the Vallée de la Marne, Virginie and Laurent of Champagne Caillez Lemaire located in Damery benefits from warm and luminous exposures. Their 57 plots stretch over 6 crus and with an eclectic and complex terroir with a dominance of clay and chalk for subtle mineral notes.

In the heart of the Montagne de Reims – in Jouy-lès-Reims -, Sophie creates feminine wines with a lot of character and fineness for Champagne Cossy. The terroir brings a well-balanced minerality from its strong porosity of the chalky soil and its optimal exposure.

At Champagne Crucifix in Avenay Val d’Or, Sébastien highlights the value of his Montagne de Reims terroir. A quite diversified terroir with varying proportions of Campanian chalk, thick hard limestones, chalk gravels, Sparnacian clays, Lutetian marls and chalk with Belemnites producing fruity, ample and mineral wines.

Champagne Benoît Diot is located in Cramant in the chalky and renowned terroir of the Côte des blancs. Benoît creates for the House subtle, expressive and elegant cuvées. The terroir brings a certain delicateness to the structure of the wines.

In Boursault, a clay and chalky terroir overhanging the Vallée de la Marne, Laurence and Cyrille produce with respect of the tradition authentic and fresh wines under the brand Champagne la Villesenière.

For Champagne Minière F&R in Hermonville, Frédéric et Rodolphe manage a well-draining sand-loam terroir and vinify fresh, mineral and complex champagnes offering a wide range of aromas.

Located in the heart of the Vallée de la Marne, Christine and Vincent of Champagne Piot-Sevillano farms a vineyard in Vincelles with clay and chalky soils.  The dynamic couple creates generous, round and elegant cuvées, reflect of their personality and their passion.

As for Stéphanie et Jean-Christophe from Champagne PRESTIGE DES SACRES in Janvry, they represent not less than 45 villages and 120 hectares from the massif of Saint-Thierry to the Montagne de Reims. The wines are elegant and delicate with a pure and distinct structure.

This year again, Le Cercle des Créateurs de Champagnes Confidentiels tasting offered to the professional visitors promising clear wines and complex cuvées for a friendly moment around champagnes.