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Our family farms 11 hectares situated mainly in the Cote des Blancs. Our classification of Recoltant Manipulant, RM, forbids us to buy in grapes. Champagne Voirin Jumel is always produced from the same vines.
Our vineyard parcels are spread across 11 villages. During the vintage harvest, all parcels ( villages, grape varieties, pressed material) are vinified separately.
In January, the wines are stabilised. Each wine is tasted. Will it go into a vintage Champagne, to cellar for a few years, to use in a blend or to sell? The art of predicting the evolution of the vins clair – still wine – is a specialised knowledge and an ancestoral secret which requires great sensoral memory.
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Did you know ?
1 are, 10 ares or 1 hectare, the surface area makes no difference, all the parcels of vines have in fact two names. The official name as recorded in the records, example: Les Mardu, Les Folies, La Cote au vent, les Briquettes (we use these names for our bed and breakfast rooms) etc.. and one other name, that which is given by the vignerons, example ‘hectare’ is the name we give to our smallest 1 are parcel of vines. We don’t even know its official name. |
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In Champagne, three grape varieties have been selected for their complimentary characteristics.
- Pinot Noir ( a black grape with white juice) provides power and generosity.
- Pinot Meunier ( a black grape with white juice) adds bouquet and fruitiness.
- And Chardonnay (white grape) adds finesse and elegance, ideal for Champagnes to keep.
The denomination ‘Champagne Blanc de Blancs’ indicates to you that the champagne is made only from Chardonnay. In the same context, there exists the ‘Champagnes Blanc de noir’ which are made only from Pinot.
To produce a Champagne from a single grape variety implies that it will be impossible to play with the complexities of the other grape varieties. The Pinot Noir or Chardonnay must be of the highest quality. Hence Blancs de Noirs and Blancs de Blancs often come from the best terroirs: the Grand Crus.
The great white Grand Crus come from the Cote des Blancs: planted exclusively with Chardonnay, this region extends from Epernay down to as far as Vertus. These grapes are searched by the big houses to use in their Prestige Cuvées. |
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On the rating of Crus between 80 to 100%, the highest appellation is Grand Cru (100%), followed by 1er Cru (90 to 99%). The remaining vineyards are appellation champagne but unclassified.
This rating of crus serves also to determine the grape price per kilo between the vignerons and the negociants, (Champagne is the only region where we speak in kilos and not in litres. To remind you, 1.33 kg per bottle) and the price per kilo in 2005 was about 5 euros.
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