Champagne Houses

Descriptions for a number of the French Champagne houses we stock.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Agrapart et Fils - top
Founded in 1894, this Recoltant-Manipulant domaine consists of twenty acres of vine parcels located in the Grand Cru villages of Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Employment of malolactic fermentation gives their Champagnes a luxuriant accessibility.

BESSERAT DE BELLEFON- top
New to our cellars, Bellefon was founded in Ay in 1843 and was purchased by Pernod-Ricard in 1971. Their Champagne is now produced in the large, high tech Marne et Champagne cellars where a lot of bland supermarket Champagne brands are produced. That said, winemaker Marie-Laurence Mora has managed to do an outstanding job with the Bellefon lineup. Mora has created a style that is fresh and charming at a price that is hard to beat.

Henri Billiot
Billiot is a tiny (5 acre) mono-cru House from the Grand Cru village of Ambonnay that produces assertive Pinot Noir dominated cuvées.  Their non-malo philosophy makes these botllings very long lived.

Raymond Boulard
A great new find! The Boulard family have been Champagne growers in the Marne Valley since 1792. This micro-marque makes Champagnes in a rich, authoratative style that is dominated by a strong reliance on black grapes-- Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. One of their specialties is a full-throttled Brut rosé made by the classic saingnee process.

GUY CHARLEMAGNE- top
Located in Mesnil-sur-Oger, Guy Charlemagne is one of the most acclaimed grower-producers in the Côte des Blancs. Champagne expert Tom Stevenson gushes: "Wines of indisputable complexity and finesse, very elegant and beautifully focused with only occasional lapses in lesser vintages.

Chartogne-Taillet
This small family operation has some 22 acres of vines virtually in the outskirts of Reims. Their top wine, "Cuvée Fiacre," is rich with showy notes of créme brulée.

De Sousa & Fils- top
Established in 1986, De Sousa & Fils (despite what the name implies) is actually run by Eric De Sousa and his wife Michelle. They own 12 acres of Grand Cru vineyards in Avise, Oger and Cramant. All the De Sousa bottlings are unfiltered and completely natural.

JOSE DHONDT
Situated in the Grand Cru Côte des Blancs village of Oger, Dhont is an organic grape farmer who assiduously restricts his yields and picks his grapes late for extra character. Always among the best.

Diebolt-Vallois
Established in 1959, this family domaine has 22.5 acres of vines split between the villages of Cramant (Grand Cru) and Cuis (1er Cru). Their crown jewel is the renowned Cramant "Les Pietons" parcel which is planted with 70-year-old Chardonnay vines. In 1992, Gault Millau named Diebolt-Vallois "Champagne Producer of the Year" and since that time, demand for their Champagne has far exceeded the small (7,000 case) produciton.

DUVAL-LEROY
"Over the past ten years, the quality of Duval-Leroy has soared and for a few years now it has become possible to claim that no other house can beat it for consistency of style-- not even the greatest of the great. The house style is busting with freshness and elegance, with all the cuvées expressive of the fruit-driven Chardonnay from the Côtes des Blancs." --Tom Stevenson, Decanter, 4/01.

Egly-Ouriet- top
This Ambonnay estate makes bold, food-oriented Champagnes predominantly from Pinot Noir. Their Blanc de Noir is made from vines planted in 1946 and really blossoms with cork aging. Further kudos to Michael Egly for putting the precise disgorgement date on the back of every label.

Charles Ellner
Ellner's entire lineup consistently earns top marks from the European and American wine press. Half of the firm's 140 acres is planted with Chardonnay, which is the basis for its House style of finesse and delicacy.

Nicolas Feuillatte- top
This dynamic producer is now the third largest in Champagne with the largest vineyard holdings (some 130 Crus). The top 25%, Premier and Grand Cru only, are used for the Nicolas Feuillate lineup. With the same winemaker for 22 years, their style is defined by round, fruit-driven, complex Champagnes that offer great value.

Fleury Pere Et Fils
Grape sourcing is from the estate's own biodynamic vineyards; all the Champagnes display good minerality and richness. "Natural" excellence personified. ttled, old-fashioned cuvée based primarily on an ancient plot of Pinot
Blanc vines.

Gaston-Chiquet- top
All Chiquet cuvées go through malolactic and have tremendous style and richness... very easy to love.

GODME
This small Montagne de Reims domaine was founded in 1935 by Hughes Godme's grandfather. The Godme family now owns 22 acres in the fabled hamlet of Verzenay.

Gosset
Gosset is famed for being the oldest wine producer in Champagne (Ruinart is the oldest producer of sparkling Champagne) tracing their origins back to 1584. Their winemaking practice, which involves some use of oak and the avoidance of malolactic fermentation, makes their Champagnes rich and very long lived.

GOSSET-BRABANT
New! Another great Grower Champagne from the portfolio of North Berkeley Imports. The Gosset-Brabants have been vignerons in the village of Ay since 1584, and have made their own Champagne since the 1930s.

JACQUESSON- top
"Vinous wine with a delicate hint of oak; powerful and impeccably made. A fact too often forgotten in Champagne: Jean Herve and Laurent Chiquet are first and foremost winemakers. The bubbles are incidental." -Gault Millau

CHARLES LAFITTE- top
A very popular marque in Europe, Charles Lafitte is best known for the tête de cuvée "Orgueil de France" which is fashioned in an opulent, Edwardian style.

JEAN LALLEMENT
Lallement is a tiny (11 acre) domaine located in the Grand Cru Montagne de Reims village of Verzenay. They produce bone-dry Pinot Noir-dominated Champagnes that deftly combine power and grace.

Larmandier-Bernier
"One of the top six producers in the Côtes des Blancs." Tom Stevenson World Encyclopedia of Champagne.

J. LASSALLE
Thankfully after a long hiatus, the best cuvées of this long-time favorite recoltant have reappeared in the market.

JEAN LAURENT
Jean Laurent is our favorite producer in the underrated Aube district. Because of this lack of prestige, their prices remain very reasonable despite Jean Laurent's determined dedication to quality. For him, quality is a matter of honor as he is the fifth generation of his family to run the estate.

CHAMPAGNE MAILLY- top
Probably Champagne's very best co-op, all of the grape sourcing comes from the Grand Cru Terroir of the Montagne de Reims village of Mailly.

MARCEL MOINEAUX
A new grower-domaine headquartered in the Côte des Blancs Grand Cru village of Chouilly.

Mumm
Recent staff tastings confirm the word that Mumm is back! For more than a decade, firm President Jean Marie Barillere and winemaker Dominique De Marville have been leading this resurgence. For example, Mumm now maintains six press houses in the midst of their most important vineyards. This costly investment is crucial to retaining the fruit purity and freshness of their Champagnes.

Bruno Paillard- top
This super-quality producer makes wonderful dry incisive vintage Champagnes and a rich, yeasty non-vintage Brut.

JOSEPH PERRIER
Located in the out-of-the-way town of Chalone-sur-Marne, this Grande Marque is one of Champagne's better kept secrets. Claude Derive, who is the third generation of his family to serve as cellarmaster, masterfully directs the vinification.

Pierre Peters
This family firm controls 26 acres of vines in some of the best sites surrounding Le Mesnil. Their vintage "Cuvée Special" is made from a single old vine block known as "Les Chetillon;" this rare bottling definitely possesses tête de cuvée quality despite its ridiculously low price.

PHILIPONNAT
Philipponnat is a small "Insider's" house that owns 40 acres of the finest Pinot Noir vineyards in Ay, Mareuil sur Ay, Mutigny and Avenay. All of these plots, including their famous "Clos des Goisses" and "Le Leon" vineyards feature perfect southern exposure and pure chalk soil.

Roederer
This highly successful family-run firm is, of course, most famous for their awesome "Cristal" luxury cuvée, but we have found that in good vintages their "regular" vintage offerings are nearly as sublime. Cheers!

CAMILE SAVES- top
Definitely one of Bouzy's best producers, this father and son operation produces just 5,000 cases per year of their wonderful Pinot Noir-dominated bubly.

Turgy- top
Turgy is located in the fabled Grand Cru village of Mesnil, home of Salon et al. Their 100% Chardonnay cuvées offer highly expressive green apple flavors and are remarkably under-priced.

Jean Vesselle- top
The Vesselle domaine is located in Bouzzy, arguably the preeminent village in Champagne for Pinot Noir. All of the Vesselle wines express attractive Pinot character. The Brut shows opulent strawberry jam/graham cracker flavors that are impossible to resist.

ZOEMIE DE SOUSA- top
Eric de Sousa is considered one of the hot young talents of the Côte des Blancs and his vintage "Cuvée des Caudalies" is now featured on the lists of many Michelin-starred restaurants. For a number of years, Erick has been taking care of the vines of others in the region using strictly organic methods. When those growers wanted to retire
he couldn't buy their vines on his own so he took in investors and formed a separate company called "Ame De Terroirs" (Soul of Terroir) and created his new brand "Zoemie De Sousa."