There are over 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region, the vast majority of which sell their grapes to others to make the wine. Only a very small proportion choose to keep their own grapes to make their own wines, known as ‘Grower Champagnes’.
Grower Champagnes are terroir-focused, sourced from local vineyards or single plots and made with grapes which vary with each vintage producing some of the world’s best wines.
Here at Fourth and Church we have fallen in love with the vast array of styles and mind blowing wines that some of these exciting Growers are producing. Champagnes that are wines first and foremost and not frivolous or ‘bubbles just for celebrating’.
The large Champagne Houses use grapes from a multitude of different vineyards (sometimes over 80) from throughout the Champagne region which are used to create a consistent house style. These ‘super blends’ can include grapes from parcels from over 25,000km, overripe and unripe fruits and differing cool and warm vintages, enabling the production of a consistent product in volume as inexpensively as possible for a mass market. You will hear from these Houses that Champagne is ‘greater than the sum of its parts’.
Unlike anywhere else in France, the Champagne region classes entire villages rather than specific vineyards on quality, meaning that you could have a Grand Cru Champagne from one of the 17 villages that isn’t necessarily better quality than a Champagne from a small plot from the 260 ‘unclassified’ villages.
We firmly believe here that Champagne isn’t just for Christmas! Just saying...
Some of our favourites
Lequeux-Mercier, ‘G4.2’, Extra Brut, NV
Mathilde Savoye, Champagne, Blanc de Meunier Brut 2019