The Fresne-Ducret family’s vines grow in and near the village of Villedommange in the Petite Montagne section of Montagne de Reims.
Pierre’s family has farmed Champagne grapes here for more than 180 years, began making and selling a bit of Champagne in 1946 and then stopped selling grapes and must to the big houses when Pierre took over in 2008.
A Farmer Who Makes Wine. Everything starts in the vineyards here, where Pierre and Daniella farm their 15 acres of vines in 25 micro-plots based on grape and soil.
As Pierre told Ed, “I think of myself as a farmer who makes wine rather than a winemaker who grows grapes. That’s because of my family history (we were grape growers long before we started to make champagne) and also because it’s impossible to make good wine with bad grapes!”
Petite Montagne is Pinot Meunier country, with few vineyards having enough limestone for Chardonnay and a climate that makes ripening Pinot Noir difficult. But the Fresne-Ducret family’s long-time farming history and Pierre’s deep focus and research on his plots allows Pierre to develop beautiful depth and freshness to his Chardonnay vines and ripen Pinot Noir so well that it can take the lead in the Chemin de Chemin cuveé. And the journey continues! Over the past few years, Pierre has begun conversion of his vines to organic farming and is now planting small amounts of one of Champagne’s forgotten “legacy” grapes, Petit Meslier
Hard Work plus a Dose of Creativity. The winemaking is just as meticulous, increasingly working with native yeasts for the initial fermentation, allowing malolactic fermentations to occur as they are ready, and limiting sulfur use to the bare minimum at all stages of wine production. Since great Champagne is the marriage of fine base wine, bubbles and time, Pierre allows his Champagnes to mature slowly on the lees of secondary fermentation – always at least 30 months and for five years or longer for these wines.
All that hard work along with a generous dose of creativity produces Champagnes that are certainly sophisticated, but also remarkably easy to drink. And in a world of continually rising prices, remarkably affordable as well. Do not miss them!
Chain Bridge Cellars 