Drémont Marroy (Champagne)
The estate extends over 4 villages and includes 23 plots, all ideally distributed on the hillsides bordering the banks of the Marne.
Located in the Marne valley (all to the west of Champagne), we have a capricious and humid micro-climate that we have to tame since it often plunges our plots into a spectacular morning mist.
The notion of terroir may seem quite abstract and yet, when you work in contact with nature day after day, everything seems obvious. Depending on the place, the type of soil, the exposure and the climate, the same plant will express itself differently. And it is through the gesture of the winegrower that this terroir will know how to be sublimated.
Their objective is to allow the terroir of each of the plots to express itself. This is why they make every effort to ensure that nothing interferes with these ecosystems.
The abandonment of chemical pesticides and insecticides, grassing, composting and the use of plowing instead of chemical weeding help protect biodiversity and promote soil life.
Respect for the environment is a matter of course for them. They therefore naturally decided to commit our vineyard to an organic viticulture mode.
100% of the grapes harvested during the last harvest were treated using certified organic alternatives, without insecticides or fungicides.
Finally, they have chosen to use an ancestral pressing method (differential pressing), allowing them to isolate the best of the berry. It is this exceptional juice that they use in the development of their Champagnes. The second part will be used to develop the ratafias.
In order not to upset and weaken their wines, they intervene as little as possible, they give them time to be born and to rest. No malolactic fermentation in order to preserve freshness and vivacity, the clarification takes place naturally thanks to the winter cold and the passage of time, which makes it possible to avoid filtration. Aging on lees is long, giving maximum structure and complexity to the wines.
Barrels, demi-muids, ovoid tank in concrete or enamel. Each parcel is vinified and aged in a container capable of revealing and sublimating it. In order to be free and creative in their blends, they use containers of small volumes, this allows them to have a rich aromatic palette. The base wines are then used as spices.
What does the designation organic mean?
This can be so diverse depending on the personality of their parent, that it is easier to define what it is not. An author's wine is anything but a standard, stereotyped wine, made to please the greatest number. It is therefore rarely produced in millions of copies, copying itself from vintage to vintage.
An author's wine is therefore a wine that does not resemble that of its neighbour. Who from year to year will evolve according to the vagaries of the weather and the mood of the author – the two can be linked. Because the author does not rely on market studies to lead his boat. He makes his wine as he feels, as he likes it, as he can, sometimes... And too bad if not everyone likes it.
This is why signature wines are sometimes classified as “table wine” or “vin de France”. Because the winemaker has not planted the authorized grape variety*, made the assembly or the vinification recommended in the appellation**. He is often a bit rebellious, our author. But that's why we love it!... That said, signature wines are not always marginal: they are present in most appellations, and can be part of the elite of these. this***. Because they don't just have personality: they're good, too! Generally with a very high degree of torchability : you never get tired of it after the first sip.
As auteur wines are not chaptalized, yeasted, tweaked...they can present very different profiles depending on the vintage. It is up to us (retailers and consumers) to accept them as they are, and to remain loyal to the producers, because they need us to continue their activity.
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* For example, the Touriga Nacional in the Minervois, or the Syrah in the Côtes du Forez. They are crazy, these authors!
** Some winegrowers dare to produce sweet wines with Mourvèdre or a natural sparkling wine with Pineau d'Aunis
*** like those of Jean-François Ganevat in the Jura or Zind-Humbrecht in Alsace
TO READ...
L'engoulevent : en route vers l'inconnu
Bienvenue dans un monde parallèle
A long visit to the Domaine d'Ansignan
Visit of the Maison Carrel
L'engoulevent : en route vers l'inconnu
