Good day Rascals,
Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out a campaign focusing on some of our most loved family producers, spanning their relationship with their grapes, their terroir, their viticultural techniques and much more.
It seemed only right to begin with the wine that started it all for us at Wine Rascal HQ; Champagne.
So let us introduce you to some of our oldest friends in the region, Frédérique & Thierry Triolet, of Champagne Triolet, and Eric Forget of Forget Brimont.
While selling around 30% of their own homegrown grapes to larger Champagne houses like KRUG and AYALA, The Triolets keep the rest in order to make the best wines possible for distinguished folk like you. The key difference for Triolet is producing bottles from a single vineyard and vintage, rather than an assemblage.
For Forget Brimont, the top priority has always been to provide an honest champagne that is archetypical of the “The Montagne de Reims” terroir. Maintained with the upmost care, their vineyards are composed entirely of Biodiversity protected, Premier and Grand Cru plots.
So what about their wines? We asked a few questions about their respective bottles within our cellar.
‘The Carte Noire is popular is the US and Japan, due to the excellent value for money.
The 25% of Pinot Noir gives this cuvée Carte Noire a rounder flavour, meaning it is far superior to drink alongside a meal, compared to other Champagnes such as a Blanc de Blancs, for example.
One thing that is particularly poignant about the Carte Noire is that its same buyers continue to take it for years after their first purchase. For us, this is a good sign that we have succeeded in producing a consistent and quality wine.’ – Thierry Triolet
‘The Rosé Premier Cru is a particularly popular Rosé – the number one Champagne Rosé in Québec!
Rosé is nice for summer too and has something glamorous that is particularly appreciated in this troublesome Summer time!
For both the cuvée Brut and Rosé, we use 50% of reserve wine housed in a steel vat. This is a ‘Solera’ method which uses different harvests (around 7 different vintages) for a better aromatic complexity.
We are one of the last houses to still dig our own cellars in the chalk, guaranteeing a constant 11 degree heat all year round, and a consequently longer and better quality second fermentation, which has a positive impact on the quality of the aromas and the finesse of the bubbles.’ – Eric Forget
Finally, we wanted to find out more what’s in store for the Champagne region.
The spring was very sunny and summer is hot too, which means a harvest between the 20th – 25th of August. This is very early, meaning good quality grapes so this is good news. Unfortunately however, due to the lost of sales among the Champagne due to Covid19, the appellation this year should suffer a big reduction.
There are many bottles in stock at this time. Last thing to say for us we are significantly reducing our use of herbicides and in 2021 we will be 100% free. – Thierry Triolet
The COVID crisis is accelerating a process we initially thought would take 15 years.
A decrease of sales in volume will permit big groups to re-negotiate the grape supply. This negotiation will significantly decrease the price of grapes and land, enabling bigger groups to take over a monopoly on grape supply
The majority of smaller wine makers who are selling low price champagne will consequently disappear, alongside the smaller vine owners.
The Champagne region is evolving to a luxurious and niche appellation where each winery needs to have something to say. A unique message to tell. Greener production and sustainable practice will be one such message, and the entire region will certainly become BIO when treatment providers are able to put a new product on the market that omits copper. They are working on it as we speak.
– Eric Forget
If all that weren’t enough, the Triolet is exclusive to The Wine Rascals for the UK market, and we have exclusivity on the Charmant label too.
Thierry isn’t blowing hot air about his Triolet Champers either – we too can confirm it as consistently our best selling Champagne over many years, due to its fantastic quality and price.
For value against your Grand Marques Champagnes, both the Triolet and Charmant, decorated with awards and accolades, are a real no brainer for us.
Like so many more the family winemakers in our portfolio, these are two with a distinctive approach and creed that you just can’t get from the big ‘factory’ wine houses. If that weren’t clear enough from their words, then we’ve no doubt you’ll taste it in their bubbly.
If you’d like to get more acquainted with them, you can get in touch here.
And to browse the rest of our wines, you can click through to our full portfolio here.
Santé!