There is a small niche, composed mainly of Vignerons, who in Reims and the surrounding area holds high the flag of a green revolution: they are organic and biodynamic producers. A couple of numbers help to understand the contours of this movement: in the Champagne region, more than 200 winemakers are organic, out of 16,000 and around 920 hectares planted with vines over 34,000. It is, therefore, a precious 3% of the total number of vineyards that officially produce certified organic Champagne. More and more, however, even among the great Maisons, there is a growing number of those who have chosen to adopt sustainable practices for a more and more marked naturalness of interventions between the fields.
Because of a certification, which is a guarantee of scrupulous compliance with a method of grape cultivation that excludes the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers synthesis? Even in the cellar, the winemaking is limited to the use of sulphites and only with certified organic wine products.
It ranges from ethical beliefs to a recognized superiority in the quality of the grapes once the time for harvesting and pressing has come. But whatever the reasons, it must be recognized that when we talk about organic Champagne, we always talk about great labels.
Our overview of the subject starts with one of the first names to move in this direction in 1971: Georges Laval. His Champagne Brut Nature Cumières is the result of old vineyards, as well as the wise touch of his son Vincent, who inherited the company from his father, continuing on the path of the purest craftsmanship in the cellar and the utmost respect for nature in the fields.
Another outstanding representative of the organic soul of the region and of the most authentic Champenoise tradition is Erick De Sousa, able to give, with surgical precision, pleasantness and cleanliness to his bubbles. A prime example of this is the Champagne Brut Blanc De Blancs Réserve, business card of the Maison, made with only Chardonnay grapes from Grand Cru territories of the Côte des Blancs: a true model of what it means to listen to the terroir.
Francis Boulard comes from a family that has six generations of winemakers before him. Since 2009 he has opted for the organic route. And the Champagne Brut Nature Petraea, today, is an expression of his choice of green and a vintage cuvée founded on 100% Pinot Noir from the lieu-dit Le Murtet in Saint-Thierry, just outside Reims.
The name Leclerc Briant is another important milestone in the organic history of Champagne. What for decades has been the largest Domaine producer of Organic Champagne, in fact, since 1964 has begun to experiment along this path. A road that the Maison has no longer abandoned and that today sees the Champagne Brut Réserve configured as the first ideal stepper who wants to compare with his unmistakable natural style.
A Chardonnay from mono-Cru territories, on the contrary, is the son of the Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Brut Nature Terre De Vertus 2014: Pierre and Sophie Larmandier produce it, simply letting the land where the grapes are harvested speak for them. The same principle that has been adopted for 115 years in Ambonnay also by the Marguet family, now represented by the young Benoît: his Champagne Extra Brut Shaman 17 is an elegant composition (86% Pinot Noir and 14% Chardonnay) in which offers, as in a symphony, all the complexity of the famous Grand Cru of the Montagne de Reims.
The same area where Benoît Lahaye comes from, heir to a family tradition of Vigneron that dates back to 1930. It is through the application of the principles of biodynamic viticulture that, for years, seeks the full potential of its vineyards and the terroir in which they are located: in the case of Champagne Extra Brut Millésime 2015 Grand Cru, it is the Pinot Noir of the village of Bouzy to be exalted in all its nuances.
To close the list, another young Vigneron comes from the Côte des Bar: Vincent Couche. His Champagne Brut Nature Dosage Zéro is an expression of love and respect: on the one side for the nature safeguarded by the methods of processing, on the other for the fruit from the two vineyards in Montgueux and Buxeuil, and for the time - over eight years - that patiently marks its long aging on yeasts.
GLUGULP! also offers an interesting selection of organic and biodynamic Champagnes for 'bio-palates'!