- CHAMPAGNE -

In the immense production of the Champagne region, a few dozen winegrowers stand out - a minority compared to the 16,000 Champagne producers, including some 5,000 "récoltants-manipulants", the only ones who vinify their grapes - who defend the idea of a real wine, which is not just "bubbles", and claim the expression of a terroir with a well-defined character in each of the regions that make up the vineyard. A human-sized estate, respectful cultivation of the soil and the vines, natural vinification: the Maison Bourgeois-Diaz is an example of this qualitative approach.

At the western end of the Marne Valley vineyard, on the right bank, Crouttes-sur-Marne and the surrounding villages offer a terroir favourable to Pinot Meunier. The family estate, taken over in 2000 by Jérôme Bourgeois-Diaz - now assisted by his wife Charlotte - comprises some thirty plots on the clay-limestone slopes surrounding Crouttes, 7 hectares where Pinot Meunier dominates (55%), accompanied by Pinot Noir (25%) and Chardonnay (20%). Gradually, the vineyard has been converted to organic and then biodynamic farming (certified in 2014): a work without concession, which gives healthy and ripe grapes harvested with great care and vinified by parcel and by variety. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentations are carried out naturally, the containers are diversified on a case-by-case basis (vats, barrels, eggs, jars and amphorae), and the wine is aged on laths for 2 to 5 years depending on the vintage. A very rigorous approach, but open to trials and experiments, which produces pure, frank and fresh wines with a well-characterised minerality.