Agathe Bellanger, a champenoise from Sézanne, has been a part of the Champagne Le Brun de Neuville staff since 2019.
Because the Gross sales Director and daughter of grape growers, Agathe brings a wealth of information and keenness to her position. Below her steerage, Le Brun de Neuville presence has continued to thrive, celebrating the distinctive terroir of the Côte de Sézanne and the rise of champagne cooperatives.
I not too long ago was fortunate sufficient to get pleasure from a shocking lunch at Alma by Juan Amador in Singapore with Agathe to style their new releases. Listed here are just a few phrases of knowledge from Agathe Bellanger.
Are you able to clarify the terroir of the Côte de Sézanne and the way it influences your wines?
The Côte de Sézanne has a singular terroir with extra similarities to Montgueux than the Côte des Blancs. That is largely resulting from temperature variations. Our vines are inclined to ripen about one week to 10 days sooner than these within the Côte des Blancs. The vineyards right here have been planted comparatively not too long ago, within the late Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties, because the appellation was not established earlier than then. This terroir, with its distinct local weather and soil composition, imparts a singular character to our wines, contributing to their freshness and complexity.
I feel our non classic cuvée Côte embodies the model of the sub-region fantastically with Chardonnay sourced from 12 totally different villages, fermentation in stainless-steel and no malolactic to retain freshness and a mix of 25 to 35% reserve wine courting again to 2008.
Are you able to inform us concerning the method to natural winery administration?
At Le Brun de Neuville, we have now at all times prioritised sustainable winery practices. We’re lucky that there has at all times been a requirement for ripe Chardonnay, and we attempt to fulfill this demand with out compromising the well being of our vineyards. We’re a cooperative of growers with over 150 ha of gorgeous vines with a predominance of Chardonnay, a bit Pinot (11percent0 and fewer than 1% of Meunier. All our vine growers are inspired to undertake sustainable viticulture practices, and we favour grapes from natural vineyards, grown with none herbicides, ploughed and licensed “Haute Valeur Environnementale” (HVE) or “Viticulture Sturdy en Champagne” (VDC). The Côte de Sézanne space traditionally has extra sunshine, riper fruit, and fewer strain to offer excessive yeilds, which implies our lands have stayed way more pure than some others with much less remedies.
What are your ideas on the forgotten grapes of Champagne?
We have now a deep respect for the forgotten grapes of Champagne. In 2016, two of our growers planted Arbane, and we've additionally seen the planting of Pinot Blanc. Though these grapes are declared within the urgent and winery paperwork, they aren’t required on labels and sometimes make up not more than 2% of our blends. Whereas there isn’t any mission to create a single varietal cuvée, we’re contemplating mixing them with Chardonnay or Pinot Noir for a singular mix. Presently, we have now an experimental cuvée with 4 grapes getting old in oak, and we're excited to see the way it evolves.
How do you are feeling concerning the altering tastes in Champagne and the development in the direction of decrease dosage?
There's a noticeable development in the direction of decrease dosage in Champagne, however our main purpose stays discovering the correct steadiness for every wine. With every disgorgement, we trial numerous ranges and varieties of dosage to find out which finest permits the wine to precise its terroir. Dosage ought to spotlight the ultimate mix, serving because the icing on the cake. We’ve generally discovered this steadiness with brut nature or further brut. Our method is at all times to let the wine's pure traits shine by way of.
What can we count on from Champagne Le Brun de Neuville sooner or later?
We have now not too long ago began releasing some very small batch wines which we imagine are an incredible embodiment of our terroir with a bit some extra pronounced secondary and tertiary notes. These are oenothèque wines, just like the magnum we have now tasted at this time which has spent 17 years on lees, in addition to Le chant des fûts, a micro cuvée based mostly on the 2019 classic which has been aged 100% 205L or demi-muid barrels for 20 months, after which matured underneath cork. These sorts of wines present the potential of the area's wines to shine by way of totally different lenses.
Wanting forward, we plan to proceed our dedication to high quality and sustainability. We intention to extend the biodiversity in our vineyards and discover extra with using managed micro-oxygenation and doubtlessly the lesser recognized grapes that are gaining popularity in our area.
Our focus will stay on producing wines that really replicate the distinctive terroir of the Côte de Sézanne. We’re additionally excited concerning the potential of our experimental cuvées and stay up for sharing these improvements with our clients.
