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  • Weather

    7° C Overcast clouds
  • Time

    09:06 AM
  • Wine average?

    91 Tb
  • Country Ranking?

    720
  • Region Ranking?

    65
  • Popularity ranking?

    247

History

In the heart of the region’s vineyards on the edge of Epernay, the capital of Champagne, lies Pierry, a typical village that bears witness to the area’s rich history.

For many years during the 18th century, it was the meeting place of the nobility and the all-powerful of the French court.

Greatly appreciated during that period, the beautiful mansions and castles are evidence of the life of the court that went on there and it was said, at the time, “Aÿ le village, Epernay la ville, Pierry la Cour”.

Jean Oudart (1654-1742), a Benedictine monk and distinguished follower of Dom Pérignon, was passionate about vines and wines and no stranger to Pierry’s renown.

Thanks to his talents as an oenologist, he was one of the most prominent men in the production of champagne and it is said that the Parisian nobility clamoured for “du vin de Pierry, selon la méthode de Frère Oudart” (Pierry wine made using Brother Oudart’s method).

At the time, Brother Oudart sealed his bottles with two stars...

Brother Oudart’s influence can still be felt in Pierry today and traces of his history can be found if you wander the streets of this village.

In 1956, a handful of winegrowers wished to promote their grapes and so set up the Pierry Cooperative. For over 60 years, the adventure has continued to unfold on the southern slopes of Epernay.

They decided to offer up their project to the patronage of St Vincent and the benevolence of the stars. And thus was born the Maison Vincent d’Astrée.

Today, the three Champagne grape varieties - Meunier (55%), Pinot Noir (20%) and Chardonnay (25%) – are carefully tended on a “Premier-Cru” vineyard to produce authentic, rich and varied cuvees thanks to the expertise of a team led by Patrick Boivin, a staunch defender of local champagne-making traditions and master of modern winemaking techniques.

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Vineyards

Like the stars on a summer’s night, the Vincent d’Astrée vines are scattered in a myriad of plots over Epernay’s Coteaux Sud.

Lying for the most part in Pierry’s Premier Cru terroir, the plots interlock like a jigsaw puzzle creating a brilliant mosaic watched over day after day by the 240 faithful winegrowers who make up the Vincent d’Astrée team.

Each terroir is unique and this is what makes the Champagne region so special and acclaimed.

The vines in Pierry are planted on south-facing slopes and enjoy the sunshine from morning to night.

Pierry owes its name to each sliver of flint from the past, formed during the Mesozoic period (the Cretaceous period 145 million years ago). These fragments of stone lend each cuvee the special uniqueness that can be found in Vincent d’Astrée champagnes.

Pierry’s subsoil is a determining factor. The roots of the old vines reach down into the clay-limestone layers before having to weave their way through the flinty depths. This is what gives our champagne its very specific initial taste of minerality, which gradually develops into a tertiary aroma of honey.

Vincent d’Astrée and the uniqueness of its champagnes would be nothing without its loyal allies, the 240 winegrowers who, each day, tend their plots of vines as though they were precious jewels.

Nothing is left to chance during the plants’ lifecycle – pruning, attaching the vines, disbudding or trellising – each vine is tended, each grape is carefully watched over.

Their winegrowing methods are tailor-made for each vine.

Each winegrower’s exacting standards, arising from a passion passed down from generation to generation, are replicated every year, reaching their climax with the grape harvest.

At Vincent d’Astrée, all our grapes are picked by hand when they are ripe.

The finest grapes are selected for pressing to reflect the terroir in each of the Vincent d’Astrée cuvees.

Every autumn, in a sociable ritual, the precious fruit is taken to the presses where it is meticulously pressed and only the best juices, known as “cuvees”, are kept.

The Champagne region is the fiefdom of the Meunier grape, to the extent that a third of the region’s vineyards i.e. almost 11,000 hectares, is given over to its cultivation.

There is an area where this variety is king, where it has been shining and sparkling like a star for hundreds of years – in Pierry.

Today, 56% of this Premier Cru terroir – 110 hectares in total – is planted with Meunier.

This variety of white-fleshed red grape is distinctive for its light white down on the underside of the young leaves, and it gives supple, fruity wines, providing them with body.

In champagnes crafted with Meunier from Pierry, you can savour the crispness of the terroir and aromas of “gun flint” that gradually develop into delicious and delicate honeyed notes.

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Winemaking

Sébastien Lapierre joined the Maison Vincent d’Astrée in 2002. He is now its Cellar Master.

In the cool, two-hundred year old cellars of Pierry, Sébastien toils tirelessly to craft wines that express the terroir and its minerality.

He combines passion, patience and skill to bring out the characteristics of the terroir whose every plot he knows so well.

He handles the wines like a painter his palette, seeking excellence and perfect balance to craft finely-honed, pure champagnes that are crisp and indulgent.

He strives to respect natural vinification and takes his time to compose authentic wines.

It is he who holds the secret of the blends and the House style.

 

Wood, stainless steel, vats casks and barrels all rub shoulders and are elements and techniques used to receive the various grape juices depending on their origin.

Equipped with a new thermo-regulated winery whose technology guarantees the freshness and wealth of aromas, Vincent d’Astrée strives to reveal and express its ideal terroir.

The different vintages are kept separate and, once pressed, only the purest juices (from the first press) are selected. Inside this winery, under the Cellar Master’s watchful and patient eye, the first fermentation takes place, turning the grape musts into still wines.

The Maison Vincent d’Astrée promotes terroir and sincerity. Most of the grapes it uses were grown on plots with Premier Cru classification.

To harness nature and give each wine its particular character, each plot may be vinified differently – some undergo malolactic fermentation, others are kept for vintage champagnes or used for blending, and others still are used for single-variety or even single vineyard champagnes.

And so begins the creation of each cuvee.

Reserve wines, sometimes known as Trésors des Maisons de Champagne or “Champagne House treasures”, are made of old wines that the Maison Vincent d’Astrée carefully conserves in stainless steel vats or casks for their excellent cellaring and development potential. They are then used to craft non-vintage Vincent d’Astrée champagnes to provide the elegance, finesse and depth that will give the cuvees their aromatic complexity.

The reserve wine ensures that the Maison Vincent d’Astrée style is perpetuated.

Once the blending process has been carried out, the yeasts are meticulously selected and the wines are bottled. The second fermentation then occurs, and the wine naturally becomes a sparkling wine – effervescence is born !

In the labyrinth of the Pierry cellars, the precious bottles repose from between 36 months to 10 years until they are ready to be riddled and disgorged.

During this time, the aromas continue to develop and refine themselves as they blend and harmonise.

The bottles are progressively riddled until the lees or deposits of dead yeasts gather in the neck of the bottle.

This is followed by the disgorging process and dosing with sugar as a final signature.

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People

  • Sébastien Lapierre

    Cellar Master
    TO VINIFY OUR DIFFERENT GRAPE VARIETIES AND GIVE THEM AN UNPRECEDENTEDLY LONG LIFE, I BLOCK THE MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION OF SOME OF THE CUVEES, WHICH I VINIFY IN CASKS. THEY ARE THEN BLENDED WITH WINES THAT HAVE UNDERGONE MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION IN STAINLESS STEEL VATS.
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