France - Champagne

We visited the Agrapart winegrowing family back when their labels still shimmered in gold and silver. As you can see, it was all a while ago. A lot has happened to Pascal Agrapart's wines in the meantime: today they are focused, straightforward, juicy and elegant and are among Avize's flagship wines. They have therefore become rare and are not available all year round. So if you want to do without the terrible wines of the big houses and want something small, fine and handmade, you would do well to go for it here. You'll see, once you've had a great vintner's champagne in your glass, you won't want the industrial effervescence of the big houses any more! Attaque!

No, no, of course you're absolutely right, you've heard the name Christophe Baron many times before, and not just from us, and associate it with great red wines from Washington State. BUT Christophe actually comes from Champagne and still has three hectares of land there on which Pinot Meunier grows exclusively. Why Pinot Meunier, because Christophe is convinced that it best expresses the unique terroir in the Marne region - you will understand what I mean when you get one of these indescribable wines in your glass. One site, one grape variety (Pinot Meunier), one vintage, no dosage and bottled exclusively in magnums to crown great, important moments. These are genuine vintner champagnes that are among the very best. Wines that nobody knows yet. Yet!

It is not always easy for the new generation of winemakers to develop themselves, and not all of them are supported by their parents. Julien is lucky that his parents do not see him as competition, but are instead delighted that he is taking control of his own life and pursuing his ideals. But it is not luck alone that drives Julien forward; it is his passion and, last but not least, his education—Julien is an agronomist—that have made his wine one of the most sought-after in Champagne today. Everyone talks about Julien Henin's Jolie Promenade, but only a select few are lucky enough to taste it. Only the brave and the committed will be able to get their hands on a bottle of this wine, and the lucky ones among the brave and committed may be able to coax two bottles out of us.

The Henin family cultivates around seven hectares in the Aÿ region and has been growing Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay for six generations. However, they have only been producing wine under their own label since 1990. I must admit that I only became familiar with the Henin name in December 2024, and that was only because Rei Suzuki recommended Julien Henin's wine to me. I am grateful to you, dear Rei, because getting to know a family like the Henins and discovering their wines is not something that happens every day. These wines are really powerful, far from the mainstream, and they are all handmade, one-of-a-kind wines. Don't be fooled by the big advertising campaigns of the champagne factories, because it is the small winemakers who spoil us with the best sparkling wines France has to offer. Ignore industrially produced champagne!

He may have found a pearl there, said a very good friend whose name I don't want to mention here, although he more than deserves it. Because he has indeed found one, a pearl, in Nicolas Maillart, a winemaker who makes great wines in the south of Reims. Even his base wine, the Brut Platine, is a poem that none of the big houses can manage. These champagne factories can completely forget about it when they have to compete with the Nicolas Maillart Rosé or his prestige cuvées. That's a fabulous tip that my friend gave me. Thank you very much for it! And you, dear customers, please trust us and leave these wine caricatures from the big houses behind and buy real champagnes - such as those from Nicolas Maillart!

Cédric Bouchard is going his own way in Champagne. On his mini-estate Roses de Jeanne (what a lyrical name!) of just under three hectares, he drastically reduces his yields, harvesting just a quarter of what is permitted, but creating the basis for great wines. The other side of the coin: only a few people will be able to enjoy these extraordinary wines. Bouchard's vinification is spectacularly uneventful, each vineyard is bottled separately, resulting in wines that speak unadulteratedly of their origin and terroir and provide the connoisseur with unfathomably deep experiences that one can philosophize about for hours.