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Browse using the new Vinous website now. In reality, though, Champagne is a wine for all seasons. Champagne continues to be one of the most exciting regions in the world. This year I tasted a number of wines and producers that are new to me.
The explosion of small, estate-bottled Grower Champagnes is one of the biggest reasons the region is so full of discovery. These small, family-run properties used to sell their grapes to the big houses, but as those contracts expire, the younger winemakers representing the new generation are choosing to make their own wines, echoing a trend towards estate-bottled wines that started in Burgundy and a few other places in the s.
Up until a few years ago, these were difficult discussions to have. Today, there are dozens, and that number continues to increase each year. At the other end of the spectrum, the grands marques are hardly resting on their laurels.
The best recent vintages are deep and vinous to the core. Grower Champagne in drag, if you will. At Roederer, Lecaillon is one of the most meticulous, inquisitive and experimental of the grand marque winemakers I know. Over the years, Lecaillon has put on exhaustive vin clair tastings that explore numerous variables in farming and winemaking, including conventional versus biodynamic farming, malolactic versus blocked malolactic fermentations, oak versus steel fermentations, and of course the different shades of expression in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay across numerous sites.
