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Entirely family-owned since it was founded in 1920, Champagne house AR Lenoble is currently in the hands of sister and brother owners Anne and Antoine Malassagne. With only twelve people working there all year round, it is a properly small operation. Their largest holdings are in the fabulous Chardonnay grand cru of Chouilly, known for a richer style of fruit, more Meursault than Chablis. They also have Pinot Noir in Bisseuil and Pinot Meunier in Damery.
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In 1818, Nicolas-Francois Billecart and Elisabeth Salmon were united in holy matrimony, and the famous house Billecart-Salmon was created. Almost 200 years - and 7 generations - later, B-S remains under family control, and finesse, balance, elegance remain their bywords. Billecart-Salmon used to be best known as the smallest of the Grandes Marques. Now that organisation is defunct, it is the quality of the wines which allows the house to be much better known. Billecart does not keep expensively carpeted office suites in W1 and the focus is on producing the best possible wines. -
Although founded in the early nineteenth century, Bollinger`s most famous owner was Lily Bollinger, whose husband died young in 1941. Despite the privations of the occupation Madame Bollinger pushed constantly for quality and vigilance in both vineyard and cellar. Her frequent excursions to inspect vines by bicycle became legendary and even today the details and fundamentals of production are more exactingly practised here than at many prestigious addresses in the region. And this accounts for the premium that Bollinger charge. -
Ambonnay-based grower house Dethune have been releasing Champagnes under their own name since the 1930s, but they come from a long line of growers dating all the way back to 1610. Their 7 hectares of organically-cultivated vineyards are planted to 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay. The Champagne are vinified in a mix of stainless steel, foudres and barrels, and the imprint of the oak is perceptible in the textured mouthfeel. (NT 13/12/23)
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The house of Charles Heidsieck is based in Reims. It is the smallest of the Grand Marque houses, but has a fabulous reputation for the quality of its Champagnes; Charles Heidsieck winemakers have scooped the ‘Sparkling Winemaker of the Year’ award at the International Wine Challenge sixteen times over the last thirty years. No other house has managed that more than twice.
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Gallimard has been Uncorked’s house Champagne for a quarter of a century, and in that time it has garnered a strong and loyal following as much among staff as customers. Didier and Arnaud Gallimard represent the sixth and seventh generation respectively of this excellent grower house. They are based in Les Riceys, in the Aube, and they cultivate 10 hectares of mostly Pinot Noir on the Kimmeridgian limestone typical of the area. The Cuvee de Reserve is pure Pinot Noir, and enjoys the warmth and fruit-forward style characteristic of a good Blanc de Noirs.
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If the key to understanding Billecart-Salmon is balance, with Gosset it is acidity and power. It is no coincidence that like Billecart they are, and always have been, family owned. But there the comparisons cease. Gosset does not allow any of its wines to go through malolactic fermentation - one of two houses I can immediately think of who practise this. The retention of the harder malic acid is difficult to get right as one thing that few Champagnes lack is acidity.
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There`s a right-of-way called Saxon Shoreway which cuts a swathe through the Kent vineyards of Gusbourne Estate, and once upon a time this path did indeed walk the English shore. So it`s no surprise that the clay and sand soils on which these vineyards sit are full of maritime deposits, which in turn may go some way to explaining the saline character that often comes across in the estate`s sparkling wines. A millenium later, and mainly thanks to land reclamation, the sea is now six miles away as the crow flies (over Romney Marsh), but there is still a powerful coastal wind blowing over.
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His family have been Champagne growers since the 17th century, tending vines across a variety of top Ay sites. Why, asked Claude Giraud, were they not making their own Champagne? Which is just what he went on to do. Soon Robert Parker was calling Giraud `the best Champagne you`ve never heard of`. The signature style that makes Giraud distinct comes as much from their great sites (and in particular, great Pinot Noir) as from Claude re-thinking Champagne top-to-bottom. Like Krug and Bollinger before him, Claude quickly decided oak was the way to go.
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The so-called grower Champagne trend makes most people think of newish enterprises but Jacquesson, one of the most renowned, was founded in 1789. This coincided with the rise of the rude Corsican peasant Napoleon and true to form he is said to have visited Jacquesson regularly on his travels. What with his cologne buying in Bologna and all his other shopping it makes you wonder how he found time to amass an empire.
Anyway, the family has history, variously teaching the Krugs how to blend and researching how to stop so many bottles exploding in the cellar. -
It’s the most prestigious name in Champagne. The house of Krug was founded in Reims in 1843, and from the beginning made itself distinctive by fermenting base wines in small oak barrels, and using very extended lees contact. Krug has always stood out for a character that is oak-driven and autolytic. Recent years, though, have seen some very elegant reinterpretations of that style. The NV Grande Cuvee always includes a wide spread of up to ten years’ worth of declarable vintages, and is released in numbered editions with a determined history. Vintage Krug is only made in the best years.
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Louis Roederer is a Champagne house that truly embodies its motto of continually striving for perfection. Since 1845 Roederer have been buying up some of the best parcels in Champagne, which was quite unique at the time (most houses relied heavily on buying in fruit), this has allowed themto really understand their terroir. This understanding is also due to their meticulous practices of harvesting and vinifying all their 400 parcels separately.
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Moet was established in 1743 and began its history of supplying the aristocracy and Royalty a few years later, when it recruited Madame de Pompadour, who, among her other talents, poved an able Champagne saleswoman. Napoleon`s favourite Champagne house entertained him lavishly too, though later Wellington became an important customer. In the 1920s Moet introduced Dom Perignon, the first prestige cuvee of any house and now produce 5 million bottles each vintage and in 1962 became the first Champagne house to gain a full listing on hte Paris Stock Exchange. -
Since 1998 Nyetimber have garnered a clutch of awards for their brilliant sparkling wines, often outgunning the best cuvees from the most famous French houses. Thirty five acres on Sussex`s South Downs are home to 100,000 vines, comprising the 3 major varieties of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. Much of the wines` success is due to the siting of the vineyard, located as it is on the same chalky seam as that which is found on the Cote de Blancs in Champagne. There is no denying, however, that the precision of the winemaking regime is key to the extraordianry and consistant quality. -
Bouzy grower Paul Bara is, in the words of Antonio Galloni, ‘one of Champagne’s undisputed leaders in quality’. They make 100% Grand Cru Champagnes, with fruit from 33 house-owned parcels across the Montagne de Reims. They have been on the scene releasing Champagnes under the family name since the 1950s, though they have a family history as vine owners and coopers in the area for much further back.
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`In defeat I need it, in Victory I deserve it,` Sir Winston Churchill. Pol Roger has had a strong British connection for over 130 years, personified in the last century by Sir Winston Churchill`s relationship - not only with the wine - but also with Odette, one of the daughters of the house. A lot of Sir Winston`s relationships were open, yet mysterious, and often characterised by utter loyalty, and so it was with Pol. -
Founded in 1734, Taittinger is based in Reims and although briefly US owned was bought back by the family in 2007 and still has a family member at the helm. Having worked with her father since then, Vitalie Taittinger took over from Pierre-Emmanuel in 2019, while he remains as honorary chair. As well as their Champagne base, the family also own vineyards in Chilham, Kent as a form of future-proofing for the climate emergency. -
It is fascinating to hear Emmanuel Fourny talk about everything he has to bear in mind as he blends his Champagnes. ‘Reserve wines or wines from the year, from cask or from vat, with or without malolactic fermentation, from lower or higher plots, plots exposed east or plots exposed south, older or younger vines, Chardonnay or Pinot…’ With his brother Charles-Henry, Emmanuel is one-half of Champagne house Veuve Fourny. His awareness of the complexities of blending is symptomatic of an attention to detail that informs everything they do here.
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Just about the most important book on wine written in the last five years is Andrew Jefford`s `The New France` in which he states that the new era of the Champagne grower/producer is just beginning. Different in many ways from the industrial production of the big houses, grower fizz is as difficult to buy as any other wine; we have to kiss a lot of frogs to find royalty in disguise. But when we found Vilmart, or rather found ourselves able to buy Vilmart - only 7,500 cases per year from 11 hectares in total, we were in the presence of an emperor of fizz.
