It doesn’t say so on its label, but this distinctive grower Champagne is 100% Pinot Noir. Maybe they don’t label it ‘Blanc de Noirs’ because it isn’t particularly ‘blanc’: Of the many things that will intrigue you about this well-priced wine, its slightly coppery color will be the first. As longtime SommSelect subscribers know, the minuscule Guy de Forez property, located in Champagne’s southerly Aube sub-region, specializes in Pinot Noir-driven sparklers (not to mention a delicious and long-lived ‘still’ rosé from the grape).
Over the years I think we’ve offered everything in this house’s lineup, and one taste of this wine will make it easy to see why: To be able to deliver this level of depth and refinement, at this price, is downright amazing. We’re always a little taken aback when we taste Guy de Forez, even though at this point we know what’s coming. If you haven’t yet tried these wines, this entry-level Brut NV is the best place to start. Brooding, fresh, spicy, and deeply satisfying, this is Champagne for the dinner table as much as the cocktail hour.
Highlighting their home village of Riceys on every label, Sylvie and Francis Wenner farm just 12 hectares (about 25 acres) of vines rooted in soils of Portlandian/Kimmeridgian limestone—not surprising given that Riceys is about 10 kilometers north of Chablis. Yet, despite their proximity to an iconic Chardonnay terroir, about 90% of the Wenners’ vineyards are Pinot Noir. The centerpiece of this gem of a property is a beautiful 17th-century stone building that houses the winery and its vaulted caves underneath, and the Wenners do their bucolic setting justice by farming sustainably, seeking to eliminate or at least minimize chemical inputs at every turn. They are certified by a body called Terra Vitis, which occupies a sort of mid-point between ‘traditional’ farming and organic/biodynamic.
As is the case with many grower Champagnes these days, there’s some fun label decoding to be done to determine the wine’s composition. All ‘non-vintage’ wines are typically based on a single vintage, but don’t say so because there are other vintages—usually ‘reserve’ wines held over from previous vintages—blended in. The other thing many producers like to do is tip you off to the disgorgement date as well. This is when the small plug of spent yeast cells (lees) is expelled from the neck of the bottle and the wine is then ‘finished’ with its final cork and cage. Because aging on the lees adds complexity and depth to the wine, the amount of time it spent ‘on the lees’ is significant information. This bottling is 72% of the 2012 vintage and 28% of 2011. On the bottom of the bottle, you’ll see a little ‘T’: this is when the wine was first bottled, on its lees (2013). The little ‘D’ is when it was disgorged (January 2016). So that’s a good 3 years on the lees, not bad for a non-vintage Brut!
This Brut NV, also known as the Brut “Tradition,” is 100% Pinot Noir fermented with just enough skin contact to lend it its deep, coppery hue. If you were blind-tasting this wine, I think you’d detect a goodly amount of ‘red fruit’ character on the nose as well: hints of maraschino cherry, red currant, and pomegranate are there—not anywhere near rosé level, but dancing around behind classic notes of lemon brioche, a touch of cream, baked apple and fresh hazelnut. The palate is tangy, racy, and yet fairly substantial, with lots of baking spice, smoke, crushed stones and chopped almond lending considerable savor to the profile. The ‘dosage’ (corrective sweetness) of this wine is a fairly low 9 grams/liter, and the wine does indeed finish bone-dry, with a twinge of winter citrus. Serve it at 45-50 degrees alongside some prosciutto and other cured meats as a mouth-watering, refreshing apéritif, or get it on the dinner table with some steelhead trout or salmon, maybe something cedar-planked to highlight the wine’s savory side. Given its price, I’ve seen this wine by-the-glass on a few good restaurant wine lists; here’s a chance to elevate your Champagne sipping game at home. Enjoy!
