Frédéric Savart

Regarded as one of the most important vignerons in Champagne, Frédéric Savart runs his own Domaine in Écueil, a Premier Cru village in the Petite Montagne de Reims. The family story begins in 1947, when René Savart bought his first vines; later, in the 1970s, his son Daniel signed the first Champagnes under his own name. In 2005 Frédéric took over — having dreamed as a boy of a football career, in the youth ranks of Stade de Reims — bringing the decisive leap in quality that drew the Domaine to the attention of international critics.

The vineyard, around four hectares, is fragmented into some fifty parcels, spread mainly across the Premier Cru villages of Écueil and Villers-aux-Nœuds. In the cellar Frédéric refuses any fixed protocol, because each parcel sets its own rules, and during vinification, depending on the vintage, he chooses whether to use stainless-steel tanks, large casks, used barriques or concrete eggs, adjusting malolactic fermentation and dosage wine by wine. A bespoke approach, whose only aim is to let the voice of each individual vineyard speak.

Among the rows, Pinot Noir dominates as the soul of the Domaine, alongside small shares of Chardonnay and Meunier. Frédéric works his vines almost entirely by hand, with restrained yields, care for biodiversity and treatments kept to a minimum, in a sustainable approach that is never for show. The result is taut, mineral Champagnes of great energy and measured oak, aged at length on the lees to give rise to gastronomic wines that are precise and deep.