Almost every week someone asks me the same thing: where do I start with grower Champagne? Here are five producers I keep going back to. I haven’t ranked them and I haven’t scored them. These are simply the growers that stay with me.
Geoffroy — Cumières, Vallée de la Marne
René and Stéphane Geoffroy farm biodynamically in Cumières, a premier cru village on the bank of the Marne. Their Empreinte Brut has the ripeness that Pinot Meunier finds in this village, plus the structure you’d expect from chalk soils. It’s easy to like on the nose and precise on the palate. I think it makes a good first bottle for anyone ready to move from a blend to a single terroir.
Bérêche & Fils — Ludes, Montagne de Reims
Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche make Champagne that talks back. Their Brut Réserve is already a benchmark in its class. The Reflet d’Antan, a perpetual-reserve style with no dosage, is the kind of wine you’re still thinking about three years later. It’s mineral, complex and long.
Chartogne-Taillet — Merfy, Massif de Saint-Thierry
Alexandre Chartogne works in a village that officially isn’t good enough for premier or grand cru, and his wines show you where that logic breaks down. The Cuvée Sainte-Anne is the way in. His single-vineyard bottlings, Saint-Thierry and Les Couarres, show just how specific one plot of ground can taste.
Gaston Chiquet — Dizy, Vallée de la Marne
This is a family estate with a long track record that gets less attention than it should. Their Blanc de Blancs d’Aÿ is a bit of a technical curiosity: Chardonnay grown in a village famous for Pinot Noir. In the glass it’s one of the most interesting blanc de blancs I know from the region. I get apple blossom, chalk and a clarity that more than justifies the price.
Vouette & Sorbée — Buxières-sur-Arce, Côte des Bar
Bertrand Gautherot makes wine in the Aube, well off the classic Champagne map. He works with no filtration, low sulphur and a lot of tension. His Blanc d’Argile, Chardonnay grown on Kimmeridgian clay, is the wine where you can almost taste the soil. It isn’t for everyone. For the people who get it, it’s hard to forget.
Ask your wine merchant for récoltant-manipulant on the label. It means the producer grows the grapes and makes the wine. With grower Champagne, that’s the one mark that really matters.