Source: cellartracker.com |
The accolades for this producer flow endlessly:
- "... some of the most spectacular wines being made anywhere in the world ..." -- Antonio Galloni
- "The most coveted, and, arguably, the finest grower Champagnes are made by two producers -- Selosse and Bouchard" -- Renaissance Vintners
- "Enthusiastic and talented young grower ... enigmatic and almost Byronic ..." -- BBR
- "Bouchard is the most extreme of the great growers ... in that he pushes many of the agreed philosophies of quality and terroir as far as they will go -- and then a little further" -- Walters.
Cédric eventually came back to Côte des Bar but his new views on winemaking did not sit well with his Champagne-traditional father and they butted heads constantly. In 2000 his father gave him access to the low-yielding Les Urseles parcel so that he could go off and experiment on his own. According to Cédric, his father thought that he was giving him the worst plot of the holdings but its low-yielding nature fit neatly into his burgeoning philosophy: sustainable farming, minimal yields, ripe fruit, and minimal intervention in the cellar.
Cédric named his new venture Roses de Jeanne in honor of his Polish grandmother Janika. His first vintage from Les Ursules was released in 2002. Subsequent to that release he has acquired a number of other plots as well as a label -- Inflorescence -- and its associated plot. Cédric gained full ownership of Inflorescence with the 2012 vintage and has since incorporated it under the Roses de Jeanne label.
Bouchard does no blending. Rather, he seeks to distill the essence of terroir through single-variety, single parcel, single-vintage wines. He follows biodynamic practices but is certified organic. Yields in his vineyards are vanishingly small -- 26 hl/ha -- making it easier for the vines to produce ripe, high-quality wine grapes. He does careful selection in the vineyard, selling off grapes and wine that do not live up to his exacting standards. With the low yields, Bouchard's wines easily attain 11% - 12% alcohol, unfamiliar territory (without chaptalization) for most other Champagne producers.
Bouchard's grapegrowing and winemaking practices can be encapsulated in the words "just say no":
- No chemicals
- No blending
- No chaptalization
- No selected yeasts (wild-yeast fermentation)
- No fining
- No filtering
- No cold stabilization
- No wood
- No dosage.
Bouchard adds 20 gm of sugar for the liqueur de tirage, well below the norm of 24 gm. This reduced level of sugar yields gas pressure of 4.5 atmospheres (versus an average of 6) after fermentation in the bottle and a "gentle, disappearing mousse."
As shown in the table below, Roses de Jeanne produces seven single-vineyard Champagnes. Due to plot sizes and low yields, production is very small (approximately 15,000 bottles across the entire line).
Table: Roses de Jeanne Wines
Label
|
Variety/Style
|
Vineyard Age
|
V’yd Size
|
Exposition
|
Soil
|
Aging
|
Côte de Val Vilaine*
|
Pinot Noir/Blanc de Noir
|
Planted 1974
|
1.41 ha
|
South
|
Clay and limestone
|
24 – 28 months on lees
|
Côte de Béchalin**
|
Pinot Noir/Blanc de Noir
|
1981 - 1982
|
1.5 ha lieu-dit/0.73 ha
owned
|
Southwest
|
do.
|
7 years on lees
|
Les Ursules
|
Pinot Noir/Blanc de Noir
|
1974
|
0.97 ha
|
do.
|
3 years on lees
|
|
La Haute Lemblé
|
Chardonnay (5 different rootstocks)/Blanc de Blanc
|
2002
|
0.11 ha
|
South
|
do.
|
3 years on lees
|
Presle
|
Pinot Noir (10 different rootstocks)/Blanc de Noir
|
2007
|
15 rows
|
3 years on lees
|
||
La Bolorée
|
Pinot Blanc/Blanc de Blanc
|
1960
|
0.217 ha
|
South
|
Chalky marl and sand
|
3 years on lees
|
Le Creux d’Enfer
|
Pinot Noir/Rosé
|
0.7 ha lieu-dit/0.032 ha
owned
|
West
|
3 years on lees
|
Walters describes the above wines thusly:
- Côte de Val Vilaine -- fleshy texture, wonderful purity. and an intense smoky minerality
- Côte de Bachelin -- flesh and texture; plenty of complexity from the time on lees
- Les Urseles -- super concentrated; deep; ripe, dark fruit; smoky complexity
- Le Haute Lemblé -- rich, creamy, nutty wine with great texture
- La Bolorée -- yellow fruits with a saline freshness and hint of lanolin and beeswax
©Wine -- Mise en abyme
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