New Arrivals from Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz
We are delighted to have received a small allocation of seasonally suitable sparkling from Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz just in time for the festive season.
Located in Croutte-sur-marne on the banks of the Marne River, Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz is a 7 ha domaine with some of the closest vineyards to Paris. Jérome took over his mother’s vineyards in 2001 after having a previous career in industrial sales and discovering a newfound desire to tend to the land his family had cared for over four generations. The production here had always been destined for the local co-op; Jérome saw an opportunity and, after studies in Oenology, returned to his ancestral home.
Jérome began by converting to organic farming techniques. In 2007, this extended to biodynamics, and the domaine was given Demeter certification in 2015. The vineyards are now an oasis of green, with native wild plants and vegetation planted on the clay & limestone soils between the rows of 40-year-old Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir & Chardonnay.
Everything here is done by hand, with Jérome opting for a labour-intensive process from vine to bottle. After a manual harvest in small crates, the grapes are pressed in a 100-year-old traditional coquard press, requiring three people to operate with constant attention and resulting in a slow and gentle extraction. No synthetic sulphur is used in the winery, and in most vintages, no SO2 is added at bottling, a rare approach in the region. Ageing varies, with the minimum period being 24 months before disgorging; the Collection or “CC” range rests on its lees for 48 months before being disgorged and released to market.
After 22 years of making pure, energetic & vibrant wines, Jérome can be considered one of Champagne’s rising stars. While the approach may be radical, the result is refined, and these are wines of remarkable quality, true to the terroir on which they were raised.
Limited quantities of each are available from our bottle shop now.