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are excellent, this isn’t necessarily true of their entry-level off erings, which
account for the vast majority of champagne consumed around the world.
Bouchard’s pursuit of fi nessed, less bubbly wines actually dates back
to an earlier era of wine making in Champagne. In fact, Louis XIV’s
favourite drink was non mousseux wine from Champagne. Bub bles were
considered a fault in wines until the 18th century.
The legend goes that Dom Pérignon, a monk at the St-Pierre
d’Hautvillers abbey, invented sparkling champagne by accident. “Come
quickly, I am tasting the stars!” he exclaimed. The truth is that Pérignon
was actually more concerned with preventing bubbles from forming, as
they tend to do in this cold climate.
Champagne is a chilly place, even in springtime. Upon my arrival,
I noticed that everybody was wearing scarves. The region’s famed
underground cellars, so vast that you can ride trains through the
labyrinthine tunnels, are frigid year-round. Champagne is, after all,
the northern-most viticultural region in France. And according to
Bouchard, a frosty cellar is one of the key factors in securing the
ultralight bubbles he favours in his wines—alongside low-pressure
bottling and not dosing it with added sugar.
Bérêche et Fils, in the hamlet of Ludes, is a prime source for bubble-less
Coteaux Champenois, as well as sparkling champagnes. “I want to
showcase the fact that we make wine fi rst and bubbles second—and to give
people a sense of our terroir,” explained Raphaël Bérêche as he walked me
through his family’s winery. Like Bouchard, Bérêche is one of the region’sIn the time it took me to fi nish half
a glass of Bouchard’s rosé champagne,
its eff ervescence (which began as a
very fi ne bead) had dissipated entirely.
“That’s exactly it!” he explained,
excitedly. “I like it when the bubbles are
there at the beginning, in a subtle, silky
way—and then, before you empty your
glass, they vanish! This allows you to see
that what you are drinking is truly a vin
de Champagne: a wine from Champagne.”
Bouchard is adamant that his wines,
like all great ones, are capable of
transmitting terroir and the nuance of
individual vintages. This notion is in
direct opposition to the way major brands
standardise their wines, creating blends
of diff erent years so that their non-vintage
b o t t l i n g s a l w a y s t a s t e i d e n t i c a l. W h i l e
some champagnes by the luxury brands
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