Terres et Vins de Champagne
Terres et Vins de Champagne was an idea conceived of by Aurelien Laherte and Raphaël Bérèche to show 2008 vins clairs beside current release Champagnes. The focus was on a new generation of wine makers. Most of those present, particularly David Léclapart, Alexandre Chartogne, Pascal Agrapart and Benoît Lahaye, have a strong organic or biodyanamic approach. All seemed to seek to produce a different, more interesting, vinous style of Champagne.
It was a fun day, a good opportunity to see a lot of interesting producers at once. The 2008 vins clairs from Bérèche looked excellent, the finished Champagnes, particularly the 2004 Apôtre, from Léclapart were stunning. The “Clos” from Laherte, a co-plantation of all permitted varieties in Champagne, looked very good, a refreshing aperitif wine. All the René Geoffroy wines were extremely impressive, highly recommended. Alexandre Chartogne of Chartogne-Taillet was full of energy and information and his wines are superb. Benoît Lahaye’s wines looked brilliant, I could have drunk them all day.
Over all, a well organised event achieving its goal. All those involved would have been happy. The turn out was quite high, including buyers from Asia and critics from the USA. Next year, it would be great if the room was a bit larger and there were more spitoons which could hold a larger amount of liquid — but those are my only criticisms.
Peter Liem has a more thorough write up.
