Starting gun fired - the holidays are fast approaching (yes, yes, it's next month already!).... The latest Champagne releases are starting to arrive... from all corners of Champagne. This month - Georges Rémy in Bouzy, Cazé-Thibaut in Chatillon sur Marne, Aurélien Suenen in Cramant, Alexandre Chartogne in Merfy and also our classics like Olivier Belin and Gratiot & Cie in the Marne valley at the gates of Château-Thierry... enough to add fine bubbles to brighten up your evenings!
As ardent defenders and ambassadors of Champagne growers since our beginnings and even before... we are partners in a communication campaign currently on display that shows that these growers are creators of identities and such great pleasures!
On our way back from our last vacation, we visited Alexandre Hôte in Tavel on the right bank of the Rhône facing Châteauneuf du Pape. What a beautiful wild corner! Alexandre has been immersed in the vineyards since he was a child and now transmits his passion to his son. This landscape, this terroir, and the vines resonate so strongly within him. The very varied plots are distributed between rolling pebbles to the north, lauzes (limestone rocks) on the highest plots (125m) and yellow sand on limestone at the bottom of the village. His wines are naturally and empirically vinified by plot unit with Syrah, Grenache Noir and Cinsault grape varieties.
While the appellation Tavel is a cru known for its rosés, today they are considered too dark compared to the trend (of little interest... as often with trends, right?) of "pool" rosés from Provence. A very small area of 960 hectares of vines versus 20,000 hectares for the other... who will win, David or Goliath?... For us, the choice is made!
A new pocket estate in Jurançon on the hills of La Chapelle is emerging - the Domaine des Féreol of Mathieu Lauliac is producing its first vintage... the "Françoise" 2023 cuvée. Mathieu planted his vines opposite the Clos Joliette hillside. In his free time, he works there with care and passion, as he is a full-time manager at "Jardins de Babylone". A wine with beautiful energy, dense, very juicy and fresh, aged partly in barrels and amphorae. Welcome to this new player in the exciting sphere of terroir Jurançons!
A quick tour then to the heights between Corbières and the Mediterranean! Since 2005, the Fabre family has entered the long history of Château de Gaure. Rooted in Languedoc, Pierre is fascinated by the history and magic of these places... at the origins of Gaure, its castle was a Roman villa. On the plateau, a promontory called "Lagaste" was a Roman Oppidum in the 1st Century. From the beginning, he favored Biodynamics on his lands and in the cellar. Wines with beautiful deep expressions without heaviness!
