Champagne Georgeton-Rafflin

Village:
Ludes
Appellation:
3.5 hectares
Grower:
Remi Georgeton

The Georgeton-Rafflin domaine consists of 3.5 hectares. The majority of the vineyards are 1er Cru within the villages of Ludes, Chigny-Les-Roses, and Rilly-la-Montagne. They also have a few small parcels of Grand Cru in the village of Verzy. The vineyards are predominantly Pinot Noir with a complement of Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. The domaine has been certified HVE3 since 2014 and certified organic and biodynamic since 2021. Remi Georgeton returned to the family domain in 2006 after his education and some apprenticeships. His passion and quiet persistence is evident in the brilliance of his recent cuvées.

L'Extra

The base wine for this cuvée comes from parcels in three 1er Cru villages. The blend is 33% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier, and 34% Chardonnay. The base wine vintage is blended with 33% of reserve wine from a “perpetual reserve” tank begun in 2006. The alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations are made either in tank or in wood and the “assemblage” is bottled the following spring. The champagne then rests “sur lattes” between 36 and 60 months before being disgorged. The dosage is 2.5g.

L'Anecdote

L’Anecdote is a vintage cuvée produced from the 1er Cru villages of Ludes and Rilly-La-Montagne. The blend is 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay. The alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations are made either in tank or in wood and the “assemblage” is bottled the following spring. The champagne then rests “sur lattes” for a minimum of 60 months before being disgorged. The dosage is 3g.

Signature

Signature is a vintage cuvée produced from parcels in the Grand Cru village of Verzy, a village considered by the champagne authority, Richard Juhlin (and many) to be among the best in Champagne. The wine is 100% Pinot Noir. The alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations are made either in tank or in wood and the wine is bottled the following spring. The champagne then rests “sur lattes” for a minimum of 60 months before being disgorged. The dosage is 3g.

Region: Champagne

Champagne, at first glance, seems easy to understand. It is after all the most popularized and recognized wine in the world. It has been endorsed by Napoleon, Churchill and Warhol (it’s the “war” theme). However, once the fizz of gaiety evaporates and the veil of simplicity is pulled back, Champagne reveals a region with a fascinating history that has for centuries fastidiously cultivated a complex wine appellation. It is an appellation governed by complicated regulations that touch all aspects of production, a classification system of villages that sets grape prices and a myriad of styles including: wines of a single vintage, of blended vintages, of a single grape variety, of blended varieties; all of which can have different levels of dosage ranging from Extra Brut to Doux. Dare I mention content measurement? How did a 15 Liter bottle of Champagne come to be associated with Nebuchadnezzar?

Read Vintage Reports Return To Porfolio

The Romans gave this region its name. I suspect that these explorers had already dipped into the “local water” before naming it Campagna in memory of the area around Mount Vesuvius. Perhaps in contrast to the vast plains that flank the region to the west the geological undulations of Champagne appeared to be a similar wonder of nature. The region’s boundaries are basically unchanged since the 15th century and the “champagne viticole” (vineyard area) today spans five “départments” , the vast majority of them located in the Marne and the Aube. The vineyards cover approximately 30,400 hectares, although this area has recently been expanded. Most of the vineyards fall into the following broad areas: Vallée de la Marne, Côte de Sézanne, Côte de Blancs, Montagne de Reims and the Côte de Bar. A complete and more precise categorization divides the vineyards into twenty regions and is explained in the wonderful book Grand Atlas des Vignobles de France.

Champagne became an important center in France after Hugh Capet was crowned in Reims Cathedral in 987. Kings were crowned in the Cathedral for the following eight centuries and during this period considerable grants were given to the local monasteries which in turn became centers of winemaking until the revolution in 1798.

Until the 17th century the wines of Champagne were labeled according to small geographic regions such as vins de la Montagne or vins de la Riviere or more specifically by village or place names such as Bouzy, Verzenay, Ay and the Abbey of Hautvilliers. These wines were predominantly made from red grapes, their color compared to an onion skin or the eye of a partridge and they were gently effervescent or not. As fashion changed, so did the style of the wines to the extent that the producers could control it. The style of Champagne that we know today began in the 19th century and continues to evolve. The biggest change in the last twenty years is the increase of small scale recoltant-manipulant, “RM” producers. These estate bottled champagnes offer a remarkable diversity of expression resulting from the different philosophies of the independent producers and the more specific terroirs with which they work. These more personal expressions of champagne stand in stark contrast to the large negociant manipulant, “NM” producers who blend wines from hundreds of villages and often produce Champagne with a calculated uniformity.