Grower Champagne

Marcus_Goodfellow · December 8, 2020, 7:05am

I would certainly add Champagne Frederic Savart in the list. His top wines are the expression and the Mont Benoit but all of his wines taste really excellent. The wines are elegant, refined and bit more generous than the wines of Chartogne Taillet (even though the latters’ style has changed from the 2016’s on with a rounder freshness making them a bit more approachable young IMO) but not as rich as Krug for example. If you want to get to know his wines try a “l’accomplie”: this is a gold standard champagne for me as it has a perfect balance between freshness and complexity.

For Agrapart try the “mineral” if you don’t know them, it is mid-range in price but the quality is close to l’Avizoise.

Vilmart is also really excellent but these wines need time IMO, many champagnes without malolactic fermentation require a bit more time in bottle than the ones with. At least to my taste as the acidity often sticks out in the early days but this often leads to really beautifull results after 2 years in bottle.

Love the Agrapart wines

lleichtman · December 8, 2020, 8:46pm

Seem to be stuck buying the same ones over and over. Like the Villmart and Aubert but can’t find it here in Santa Fe area only the expensive cuvees. It seems our local stores are cutting back on supply. Might have to order from Wine Library. A

lleichtman · December 8, 2020, 8:47pm

That one has just come in here. Should give it a try.

lleichtman · December 8, 2020, 8:50pm

Thanks for the suggestions. Have been bogged down with mostly Gonet as our local stores seem to be in short supply of grower. Plenty of “house” champagnes but I’m generally not a fan except for the really high end ones like Salon but not for any regular drinking.

Otto_Forsberg · December 8, 2020, 8:56pm

I’ve noticed! His skin-contact “orange de blancs” (aka. macerated Chardonnay) Champagne was quite thrilling.