Roses de JeanneCelles-sur-Ource, Côte des Bar

Producer profile
PL Cédric Bouchard bottles no fewer than seven different single-vineyard wines. Les Ursules was his debut cuvee in 2000 made from a 1 hectare parcel that his father gave him "to experiment with his new ideas". Today Cédric makes "tiny quantities of exquisite champagnes that are entirely unlike anything else to be found in the appellation." "His wines are made in stainless steel tanks, aged a minimum amount of time on the lees, and are released without dosage." He famously prefers lower pressure in his champagnes: "the bubbles bother me a little", and bottles all his champagnes at 4.5 atmospheres. "I want to make the bubbles very fine, as fine as possible. I don't like it when the bubbles attack your palate too much." His estate "has risen to international prominence" and the "wines have become some of the most sought-after in all of Champagne". Roses de Jeanne is a "tiny, jewel-like domaine". Each of the champagnes is made in "painfully small quantities" and "comes from a single grape variety grown in a single vineyard, and always from a single vintage. In its strict avoidance of blending, it's an antithetical aesthetic to that of traditional champagne". Estate practices are "natural viticulture, unusually low yields, and minimalist winemaking". Côte de Val Vilaine is a pinot noir that is "released a little earlier than others, emphasizing its luscious, vibrant fruit." Côte de Bechalin is "riper and more exotic, with a velvety depth and lively structure". The newer Presle is a pinot noir from a vineyard "planted in 2007 with ten different rootstocks to maximize genetic diversity, creating a tensely focused yet exuberantly fruity champagne." Les Ursules is a pinot noir "with an opulent depth of fruit and vibrant, energetic structure", possibly "the most complex and complete" of Cédric's blancs de noirs. La Haute-Lemblé is a "blanc de blancs of powerful ripeness yet an equally intense structure, and it often needs several years after release to settle down and become more harmonious." La Bolorée is from 50-year old pinot blanc vines and is "the most unusual of Bouchard's champagnes" and "one of the most original wines in Champagne, with detailed aromas of tea leaf, alpine herbs, and licorice." "Most striking of all is an elegant, subtle rose from Le Creux d'Enfer with just 3 rows of pinot noir vines", "Bouchard's greatest wine", "a rosé of rare elegance and refinement", "crushed by foot and macerated on its skins to produce a subtle, discreet yet kaleidoscopically complex rosé, a wine to meditate upon rather than quaff." TyS no mention. ToS 88 "rocketing small producer" who makes "minuscule amounts of high-priced, sought-after, handcrafted Champagnes from the Aube, far away from the most prestigious Champagne origins." "One of the reasons his wines impress is that there is vinosity and a serious character, but no oak influence." "Roses de Jeanne" is an homage to his grandmother.

Tasting notes

Côte de Bechalin 2011. 100% pinot noir. Disgorged in April 2018. Vivacious and impatient fresh cork. Beautiful, darkly elegant label and neck foil with gilded estate initials. Straight out of the bottle the nose is barnyardy, lambic, with dairy associations like the lactic freshness and bitterness of quark. Pale neutral yellow of clear acacia honey. Normal carbonation with persistent seafoam mousse and a foamy mouthfeel. A special oily surface effect: very small bubbles spiral to the surface and queue up in fine arches like floating boom barriers because of the slight centrifugal motion in the glass. Not nearly as dry as remembered from past RdJ experiences. A hint of key lime curd. No apparent lees at first and making only a fleeting appearance later. A touch alcoholic in the beginning, perhaps from the persistent mousse on the palate. But quickly changing, developing into a meandering, unique, and savory wine. Opening up and really shining in Zalto Burgundy glass. This is a fine wine for gastronomic diversions: it's fun with palate modifiers like basil and parsley. Nuances of sun-warmed meadow grasses, hay, and bittersweet alpine liquor. Then suddenly a ripe peach and right afterwards - Turbo, a Turkish bubblegum! Purchased at Molly's Spirits in summer 2020 for $80. ⭐⭐

Côte de Val Vilaine 2018. 100% pinot noir. Disgorged in April 2020. Calm clean cork. Crepitating foam. Sweetly vinous and at the same time crunchy and slightly sharp in the beginning. Interesting creamy-fudgy nuance. Quite sweet-tasting, pleasant, with a suggestion of overripe fruit: pear, maybe drying grapes, eiswein. Very appealing, different, exciting from Zalto Bordeaux glass at first. But suddenly the wine shape-shifts. It starts feeling a touch prosecco-y and the pear impression hangs around. Then midway, remarkably, the wine turns outright simple, acquires a little funk, goes clumsy-sweet, nearly shuts down. I switch to Zalto Champagne glass but it tastes closed and sharp from that too. No improvement a day later. How odd. Purchased at Spirited Gourmet in spring 2021 for $66.

Côte de Bechalin 2014. Disgorged in 2021, month not specified. Label design errs on the minimalistic side, I'd appreciate a little more detail. Uncorked with a small overspill despite a fortnight in the fridge. Fresh, clean, slightly uneven cork fans out quickly. Delicate beige or roseate hue. There is a teensiest trace of reduction upfront, then velvety waffly sweetness and quelque chose. Good acidity and overall balance. A bit pointy and prickly on the palate. Largish foamy bubble-bath mousse encircles Zalto Burgundy glass on the inside. Notes of pear and Granny Smith apple skin. Less sweet from Zalto Universal. Warm bitterness emerges with time in the glass. Peachy and spicily plummy when contrasted with Gimonnet's 2006 Club. Towards the end this wine continues to deepen with an elegantly heady perfume. Purchased at Craft & Cru in fall 2021 for $104. ⭐⭐