Our goal is to enable each vine to thrive in the environment where it grows.
• Plowing is increasingly done by horse rather than by machine, in order to avoid compacting the soil. This leaves the soil better aerated, with an optimal exchange between water and wildlife.
• Synthetic products such as herbicides are banned, allowing the natural flora and fauna to aid the plant in developing a sap that reflects all the identity of its envir...
Sometimes it is good to turn from the glamour of big champagne houses to the more earth-bound approach of a pragmatic peasant. Chartogne-Taillet in Merfy, which is located in the northern part of Montagne de Reims, is a paradigm of an enthusiastic and innovative farmer-producer. Working side by side with his father Philippe and mother Elisabeth, Alexandre Chartogne acquired his knowledge from the legendary Avize-based Anselme Selosse, and is o...
Merfy's vineyards are located in the Montagne de Reims, 8 kilometers (5 miles) away from Reims on the southern tip of the Massif de Saint-Thierry, an area that has enjoyed a long winegrowing tradition. These south- and southeast-facing hillsides have been planted with vines since the arrival of the Romans, and were further developed in the 7th century by monks from the Abbey of Saint-Thierry. As early as the 9th century, the vineyards surround...
The grapes are pressed in one of two pneumatic presses, each of which functions differently. The first exposes the wines to air, while the second offers more protection against oxygen. The pressing is long and gentle, in order to obtain the finest and most delicate juice from the grapes. Fermentation: The fermentation is the first step after pressing, and is performed with yeasts native to the wine itself, preserving all of the wine's initial ...
- In the old days before the world wars and phylloxera these northern villages were widely planted and highly esteemed. But as this was such a strategic point, one being able to look down to the city, this has been war zone many times during the history. Therefore the amount of vineyards has diminished from 105 to 45 hectares, says 27-year-old Alexandre Chartogne, the new generation of Chartognes.
From the first seconds of the v...
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