Translation missing: en.Grower Champagne + Domaine Belargus+ Vietti + French Wine Tasting Saturday 31st 3pm-6pm + Meet the Maker Unico Zelo Sat 7th: Grower Champagne + Domaine Belargus+ Vietti + French Wine Tasting Saturday 31st 3pm-6pm + Meet the Maker Unico Zelo Sat 7th
Grower Champagne
"Remember gentlemen, it's not France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!" - Churchill
This spotlight will be a little bit different than the usual producer-focused one. To let you in early on something that I'm working on, I am producing a regional guidebook on France, just like the one on Australia that is already on our site that should be finalised a little bit later this year. Having recently completed the section on Champagne and the fact that we have more than enough Champagne to keep Winston happy for a week, I thought this would be the perfect chance to educate those that aren't as familiar with what goes into a bottle of Champagne behind the scenes, and for those that do know, to show you the great stuff we have.
The region of Champagne is located in the northeast of France, 160km east of Paris. The viticultural boundaries of Champagne are legally defined and split into five wine producing districts within the administrative province - the Aube, Cote des Blancs, Cote de Sezanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallee de la Marne. The towns of Reims and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area. Champagne’s close proximity to Paris helped establish its economic success in trade but also led to issues during war time as armies would march through the region on the way to Paris.
Champagne has a cool continental climate located at 49 degrees latitude - towards the upper limit where grapes can successfully ripen, with temperatures that are moderated by surrounding forests. The cold temperature and high rainfall means that growers must be cautious of pressure from disease and spring frost. The soils of Champagne are the famous chalk-based soils (Aube is an exception being clay-dominant) left behind by ancient oceans 70 million years ago. Earthquakes have brought sediment from belemnite fossils to the surface as well which aids in retaining heat throughout the cold nights and has great drainage.
The 3 primary grape varieties here in Champagne are: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. Chardonnay grows best in Cote des Blancs and Cote de Sezanne, Pinot Noir in Aube and Montagne de Reims and Meunier in Vallee de la Marne, although there can be exceptions. Chardonnay usually brings a higher acid backbone and leanness to a blend, Pinot Noir brings body and Meunier can bring youthful exuberance.
Relating this to the Champagne that we stock, we almost exclusively carry Grower Champagne. Grower Champagne refers to a Champagne producer the own their own vineyard/s and only use estate-grown grapes, as opposed to buying grapes from elsewhere. As a result, these growers tend to focus more on the farming (very often organic or biodynamic) and aim to produce a terroir-driven Champagne as opposed to the commercial, standardised "house styles" of the Grandes Marques. This can be seen due to the fact that Growers will more often release vintage Champagne, or at least a NV that has a larger base reserve wine as opposed to 100+ different wines blended into one, usually little to no dosage and often longer time aged on their gross lees before disgorgement. The result are unique wines that faithfully reflect their terroir rather than moulding themselves to a homogenised international taste (or lack of). We are proud to stock most of Champagne's great growers from Georges Laval and Frederic Savart to Egly-Ouriet and Agrapart. Give the boring Moët and Veuve a miss and drinking some Champagne with actual personality. Join the Grower Revolution!Domaine Belargus
Domaine Belargus is the passionate venture of wine enthusiast - Ivan Massonat, seeking to restore the prestige and honour of a 1000 year-old vineyard in the heart of Anjou. Ivan built the estate himself, stone by stone, and is 100% dedicated to Chenin Blanc and exploring the special micro-terroirs of Anjou Noir, in a single-plot manner similar to the climats of Burgundy.
Le jardin du roi, or "The King's Garden" AKA Loire Valley, was planted with vines in the 11th century by religious orders and the wines of Anjou were served to royalty and aristocracy for almost a millennium. This dropped off some time around the late 19th century as tastes and technology changed, but passionate winemakers like Ivan are restoring Anjou Chenin to its rightful throne. Anjou Noir is known for its schisteous soils, formed 500 million years ago, but is also home to purple, black and layered schists, pudding sandstone, magmatic rocks, rolled pebbles, fine clays and aeolian sands. The interplay of variety and soil here in unrivalled. Domaine Belargus own 10 hectares out of the 40 that are classified Grand Cru in the Loire Valley, known as Quarts-de-Chaume. Ivan employs the same techniques that Burgundy built it's reputation on: single plots, old vines, low yields, long elevage, and minimum intervention. The low-yielding single plots are cropped at only 25 hectolitres/hectare to produce wines of concentration and intrigue.
We're excited to share a large range of The Belargus wines with you, across multiple vintages and in both dry and sweet expressions. From the more "entry-level" offerings, we have the '20 'Gordone Anjou' and the 'Ronceray Anjou' in both '19 and '20 vintages. A little jump up we have the 'Rouères Anjou' in both the '19 and '20 vintages too as well as the 'Veau Anjou' from 2020. Our top Belargus is the 'Quarts Anjou' from the '19 and '20 vintages which comes from spectacular terroir in the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation. Of Ivan's sweet wines, we have: '18 'Coteaux du Layon', '18 'Quarts - Quarts-de-Chaume', '18 'Rouères - Quarts-de-Chaume', '20 'Rouères - Coteaux du Layon' and the 2018 'Echarderie - Coteaux-du-Layon Chaume 1er cru'. These sweet wines are excellent for those Sauternes lovers that want to try something new and exciting. Domaine Belargus is making some of the most exceptional wine in the Loire Valley, don't miss these!Vietti
Vietti are one of Barolo's greatest and most consistent producers, always at the top of every critic's highest rated Barolo. Carlo Vietti established the winery towards the end of the 19th century, right in the heart of the Langhe on the highest point of the medieval village of Castiglione Falletto where the estate is still based today.
Vietti have been pioneers in Barolo, being one of the first to bottle a Barolo Cru in 1961 with their prestigious 'Rocche di Castiglione', being the first to vinify the white grape Arneis in 1967 and introducing their iconic art labels in 1974. In total, Vietti own more than 11 hectares of vines and are one the only producers who own cru Barolo vineyards in each of the main communes. Vietti don't strictly fall into either the traditionalist or modernist camps (although they lean more traditionalist), rather, they utilise the best of both worlds - long macerations and large botti from the traditionalists and some small portions of barrique-ageing from the modernists. The result are incredibly captivating wines with both power and finesse that speak to their respective terroirs.
We have 5 different Barolo offerings from the 2018 vintage to share. The 'Barolo Ravera' comes from a wonderful hillside with a southwestern exposure. The soil is calcareous clayey with Sant’Agata’s marls and the vines have an average age 30 years with the oldest part planted in 1935. The 'Barolo Rocche di Castiglione' comes from an iconic vineyard with old vines, southeastern exposure and a grey-blueish marly composition. The 'Barolo Cerequio' comes from a south-facing vineyard sitting roughly 350m above sea level. The soil is calcareous and clayey with Sant’Agata’s marls and an average vine age of 35 years old. 'Barolo Lazzarito' is a wonderful natural amphitheater facing southwest in Serralunga d'Alba, at an altitude of 260-390m above sea level, with a clayey and calcareous soil and vines averaging 40 years old. Finally, the 'Barolo Brunate' from La Morra faces south towards the town of Barolo at an altitude of 300-400m with vines averaging 55 years of age. These are some of the finest examples of Barolo outside of Giacosa and Conterno and will continue to develop for decades in the cellar. Don't hesitate to jump on these!French Wine Tasting Saturday 31st August 3pm-6pm
Join us this Saturday for a tasting of a great range of family-run estate French wines. These wines will be from a spectrum of classic regions from Alsace and Chablis to Bordeaux and Southern Rhone - something for everyone. These are all modestly-priced as far as French wines go so you can happily leave the store with your favourite bottles. Here's what we'll be pouring:
Alsace Willm Pinot Blanc
Chateau Ragotiere Muscadet
Domaine Fevre Chablis
Domaine Seminaire Côtes-du-Rhône
Chateau Gantonnet Bordeaux
Domaine Font-Sane Gigondas
As you can see, this little tour of France has something for everyone. See you there!MEET THE MAKER
Unico Zelo Tasting Saturday 7th September 3pm-6pm
Saturday next week, we'll be hosting Unico Zelo's Brendan as he pours his delicious wines for you. Some of you may know Brendan from his great Youtube Channel "Wine for the People" that has gained a lot of popularity recently, for good reason. These are the wines Brendan will be pouring:
Esoterico
Jade Jasper
Fresh A.F.
Truffle Hound
Jungle Jungle
Alluvium Fiano
Pipe Dream Nero d'Avola
We'll provide some more info over the coming week in these emails and on Instagram so stay tuned!
Wishing you a great week from the team: Chris, Pete and Aaron.