BOLD BUBBLES Grower champagnes are all the rage, focused on single-estate bottlings and small producers. But are these popular bubbles worth all the fuss? // By Christiaan Porter IN TIMES WHEN so many products are dubbed artisanal, when authenticity is a prized characteristic for many upscale goods and a heartwarming origin story all part of the pitch to ever more conscious consumers, it would be surprising if such a luxury product as champagne escaped the same buzz. Enter “grower” champagnes. Finding increased resonance over the course of the last two decades, they still qualify – in the slow-moving French region of Champagne – as the next big thing. These are the “récoltants manipulants”, or RM, as they’re designated on their bottles, indicating that at least 95% of the grapes used were grown on a single estate. Typically, they’re from small independent producers, maybe just one or two generations old who, being young, are evangelists for new, more radical methods. And so the bottles might also feature single vintage, single vineyard, single variety, or low intervention distinctions, often fashionably natural or organic in their approach in ways more common in Burgundy but rare in Champagne. Unbolstered by much in the way of reserves, these grower champagnes are unique and reflective of a very localised soil and climate – to the point that a single bottle may be a true one-off – and, indeed, some wine experts and producers have argued as early as the 1930s that truly great champagnes are always this singular. There are, of course, some grandes marques in Champagne that do trumpet their localism – Krug began producing single vineyard, single vintage blanc de blancs 44 years ago – but a renewed enthusiasm for the idea has seen the likes of champagne portfolio manager Terry Theise speak of the merits of “farmer fizz”, as distinct from champagnes that are – as he damningly puts it – “from a factory”. These are the “négociants manipulants” whose output is consistent year after year, a steady stream of consistent bubbles. In contrast, names like Vilmart & Cie, Egly-Ouriet, Ulysse Collin, Jacques Selosse, Benoit Marguet, Pierre Paillard, Philipponnat and Pierre Gimonnet have been trumpeted as grower Davids up against these multinational Goliaths. These growers lack access to marketing budgets, and their under-the-radar reputation is typically built by word of mouth. That they’re hard to find perhaps only adds to their appeal, especially for some wine investors. Certainly, it’s argued, grower champagnes have had a positive impact on the Champagne region. They are giving it a frisson of fresh energy, extending choice with something different, bringing a more personal, familial approach. Most importantly, they are helping with soil conservation in an industry that has relied heavily on pesticides and fertilizers and, indirectly, may be applying some pressure to move to more organic practises among the large negotiants that still represent the overwhelming major of Champagne’s production. The likes of Dom Pérignon and Louis Roederer are among those giants that have taken steps towards more organic and more terroir-specific products in recent years. “Historically, it’s been a marginal climate for viticulture, but the champagnois feel the changing climate more acutely,” explains Davy Zyw, wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd’s champagne expert and senior wine buyer. “Recent growing seasons have tested the vines, the terroirs, and exposed the best farmers in the region, and there is increased division NEW VINTAGE The cellar at grower label Champagne Philipponnat NetJets 75
