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Why Drink Grower Champagne?
“You should drink grower-Champagne because, like all hand-crafted estate-bottled wines, it is not a mere Thing but is indeed a BEING, expressive of where it grew and who raised it. In drinking it you help protect DIVERSITY, and diversity leads to VITALITY. And if you’d rather eat a local field-ripened summer tomato rapturous with sweetness instead of some January tomato you buy at the supermarket hard as a stone and tasting of nothing, then you should be drinking farmer-fizz!” Terry Thiese |
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The Geoffroy family have been winemakers since the seventeenth century and the property has stayed in the family for almost 400 years, uninterrupted. In addition to prime parcels in Cumières, the family has holdings in Damery, Hautvillers, and Dizy. The wines don’t go through malolactic fermentation, which gives them the nerve and aging potential that most Cumières Champagnes lack. Jean-Babptiste Geoffroy is the current generation making the wine. “If you don't have passion, you won't make very good Champagne,” he said as he strolled the vineyard, waving at local hunters who also walked the rows, shotguns in hand, searching for rabbits and pheasants. |
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Champagne Geoffroy Expression Brut, Rene Geoffrey $300 6pack 91 Points Steve Tanzer “43% pinot meunier, 32% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay; 65% of the fruit was from 2010 and the rest from 2009 and 2008; disgorged in July, 2013 after 30 months on its lees): Pale onion skin color. Aromas of fresh pear, lemongrass and lime zest, with a hint of jasmine. Juicy and penetrating, with tangy citrus and orchard fruit and flavors underscored by a note of chalky minerality. Finishes clean and racy, with lingering floral and gingery spice qualities.” |
| | | Didier Gimonnet is the second generation of growers to direct this superb estate, with 28 hectares of holdings in grand and premier cru villages, predominantly in the Côte de Blancs. The winery is in the premier cru village of Cuis where Didier’s family has been growing grapes since 1750. Pierre Gimonnet, Dider’s Grandfather, started bottling estate champagnes in 1935. |
| 2006 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Fleuron $390 6pack 93 Points Steve Tanzer “Aged for 60 months on its lees and disgorged May 3, 2012: Light gold. Pungent, mineral-accented citrus and pit fruit aromas, with sexy mango and floral nuances. Concentrated, spicy and smooth in texture, offering pliant peach, pear and lemon curd flavors and a bracing mineral nuance. Finishes impressively deep and very long, with a taut citrus zest character and lingering floral notes. |
| | Henri Billiot has Grand cru sites in Ambonnay, which is Pinot Noir land. Even more impressive is that all but one of their parcels are on the mid-slope, in the most favored portion of the vineyard area, expressing the classical character of this famous village.
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| Henri Billiot Champagne Rosé $348 6pack 92 Points Wine Spectator/ 91 Points Wine Advocate “The NV Brut Rosé Grand Cru blossoms beautifully in the glass with layers of fruit that fill out in the glass. As always, Billiot’s Rose is a rich, broad-shouldered wine with plenty of intensity and vinous depth. This edition is 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay, based on the 2009 vintage, with 25% each 2008 and 2007, including some still Pinot from those vintages. Disgorgement date: August 2012.” Only 391 cases imported. |
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