Champagne Bourdaire-Gallois Village: Pouillon (Massif Saint-Thierry) Appellation: 8ha Champagne Grower: David Bourdaire Website: https://bourdaire-gallois.fr/ Downloadable PDF David Bourdaire farms 8 hectares situated in and around the village of Pouillon. Pouillon is one of a dozen, or so villages in the Massif Saint-Thierry, a group of undulating hills and forests that slope off toward the vast plain, northwest of the city of Reims. This Massif is the northern most part of the Champagne appellation and is home to some 900 hectares of vineyards which are spread throughout the dozen villages. Due to the challenging climate, it is the late budding Pinot Meunier which is the favored grape type. The soils have a large portion of sandy clays which offer a distinguishing expression to the area’s champagnes. David’s family began estate bottling their champagnes in 2001 when they left the coop that David’s grandfather founded in 1951. The vineyard is comprised of 85% Pinot Meunier, 10% Chardonnay and 5% Pinot Noir. The vines have an average age of 43 years with a few rows of Chardonnay planted at 11,000 plants per hectare that date back to 1923. David farms organically and is in conversion to obtaining certification. The vineyard is planted on low yielding root stocks and David cultivates natural grasses between the vine rows to further limit yields. He vinifies each parcel separately according to the specific rootstock “porte-greffe”. After years of adjusting the dosage level with each disgorgement, David has settled on finishing all of his Champagnes with a dosage of 0g/l. Read David’s comments in the Champagne Vintage Reports "Tradition" Extra-Brut NV The Extra-Brut NV is 100% Pinot Meunier harvested from six different parcels. After a slow and gentle pressing in a traditional Coquard vertical press, the juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks. It undergoes a malo-lactic fermentation and then rests “sur lattes” for a minimum of 18 months. The Champagne is finished with a dosage of 0g/l. "Reserve" Extra-Brut NV The Reserve is a blend of 40% Pinot Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay harvested from five different parcels. After a slow and gentle pressing in a traditional Coquard vertical press, the juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks. It undergoes a malo-lactic fermentation and then rests “sur lattes” for four years. The Champagne is finished with a dosage of 0g/l. "Blanc de Blanc" NV The Blanc de Blanc is fermented 50% in cuve and 50% in barrel. The Champagne spends 4 years “sur lattes” before disgorgement and is finished with a dosage of 0g/l. This cuvee comes from two parcels with light sandy/silica soils including the parcel planted in 1923. This terroir gives the Blanc de Blanc a Chablis-like minerality. Production is very limited. "Tradition" Rosé Extra-Brut The Extra-Brut Rosé NV is 100% Pinot Meunier harvested from six different parcels. It is made by combining 21% red wine with 79% white wine from Pinot Meunier (blanc de noir). The juice is fermented in stainless steel tanks and an “assemblage is made that includes 20%reserve wine from the previous vintage. The wine goes through a malo-lactic fermentation and then rests “sur lattes” for a minimum of 3 years. The Champagne is finished with a dosage of 0g/l. News August 1, 2024 You will dig this: David Bourdaire of Champagne Bourdaire-Gallois and oenologue Geoffrey Orban conduct a study of samples taken at 3 levels of subsoil from David’s 4 soil types to study the correlations of terroir and aromatics "L’objectif est de déterminer le profil sensoriel, olfactif et tactile des sous-sols, et donc celui des futurs vins, qu’ils soient assemblés ou non." "The objective is to determine the sensory profile, olfactive and tactile, of the sub-soils, and thus that of the resulting wines, whether belended or not." The winemaker and oenologue took samples of soils from 4 parcels of differentated soil types on David's property and from 3 different depths. They created "infusions" by combining the soil samples with water, placed in tasting glasses for their aromas to be studied as would be wine at its different stages of evolving.......
August 1, 2024 You will dig this: David Bourdaire of Champagne Bourdaire-Gallois and oenologue Geoffrey Orban conduct a study of samples taken at 3 levels of subsoil from David’s 4 soil types to study the correlations of terroir and aromatics "L’objectif est de déterminer le profil sensoriel, olfactif et tactile des sous-sols, et donc celui des futurs vins, qu’ils soient assemblés ou non." "The objective is to determine the sensory profile, olfactive and tactile, of the sub-soils, and thus that of the resulting wines, whether belended or not." The winemaker and oenologue took samples of soils from 4 parcels of differentated soil types on David's property and from 3 different depths. They created "infusions" by combining the soil samples with water, placed in tasting glasses for their aromas to be studied as would be wine at its different stages of evolving.......