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CHAMPAGNE
– STYLES –
some oddities. Although it does not have a Demi-Sec,
the Brigitte Bardot label – mainly shipped overseas – has
20g/litre dosage! “But it uses Pinot noir planted due
North”, points out Thiébault. Which means, there is no
excessive sweetness on the palate.
MANDOIS – ORGANIC AND INVENTIVE
Champagne Mandois is an old, no, a very old familyrun
company whose roots date back to 1735. Its current
incumbent is 60-year-old Claude Mandois who runs the
business. He represents the ninth generation and returned
to work with his father in 1982. The company is located
in Pierry and boasts 37 hectares, 33 of them farmed
organically. However, it takes three years to guarantee
the soils are residue-free and Champagne is a timeconsuming
wine to produce, so the first certified bottles
will not be released for sale until 2024. The summer
of 2021 was very wet, even if the Côte des Blancs and
the Côte de Sézanne, where Mandois’ vines are located,
were not the worst affected in Champagne. Mandois
refused to succumb to the temptation of spraying his
vines to combat mildew, however. Never mind the lower
volumes, the family has stocks to fall back on. This is a
winegrower with strong principles.
Here, the non-vintage Brut represents 50% of sales.
Due to its location, the house’s Blanc de Blancs – a
2016 vintage Premier Cru – also sells well. The style is
delicate, not massive, with good length – which is exactly
what Mandois likes. Tillage of the soils also guarantees
enhanced freshness in the wine. Dosage is 6g/litre,
compared with 12g just twenty-five years ago. Lower
levels of sugar are now the new norm. For Mandois, there
are several explanations for this. Firstly, the wines are
riper due to climate change and harvesting of riper fruit,
so there is no longer the need to offset overpowering
acidity. Similarly, the share of reserve wines in the blends
has been increased here too, from 20 to 40%, and reserve
wines always have slightly lower acidity than the latest
vintage. Finally, consumer tastes have changed. Elitists
do not want sweetness. Although Mandois still produces
a Demi-Sec, it is mostly designed for loyal and older
customers.
The house also produces Clos Mandois, a small-batch
Claude Mandois, the 9 th -generation representative of the family of winegrowers
The entrance to Clos Mandois and its Pinot Meunier
WINTER 2021 GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE 17