Coteaux Champenois Tasting: A Turning Point in Champagne?

Just as the French revolution in 1789 is considered a historical watershed between the modern and contemporary ages in the country, the tasting I attended earlier this month in Reims could be considered a milestone moment for the Champagne region.

Benoit Marguet, one of the wine producers promoting the two-day event, which comprised 30 Champagne estates and almost 100 non-bubbly wines, called it the “still wine revolution in Champagne,” although its official name was “Coteaux Champenois, La Degustation.”

In 2023, the production of still wine from the Coteaux Champenois appellation in Champagne totalled 4,000 hectoliters, or double the production of 2021. Many producers at the event attributed the increase to climate change, since grapes like pinot noir perform better in warmer climates.

Rene Coutier, a renowned producer in Champagne who was introduced as the “historical memory” of Coteaux Champenois during the tasting, noted an overall decline in chapitalization – the adding of sugar to grape must during fermentation to increase the alcohol content – while pointing out that red wines from vintages like 2018, 2019, and 2020 were of much higher quality than in the past. And where vintages reserved for Coteaux production were rarer in the past, they are now more consistent.

A still wine for Champagne, in fact, needs to be very fresh (to balance with the bubbles), low in phenolics (to avoid roughness on the palate or oxidation), and as delicate as possible (to avoid becoming too aromatic with the amplifying effect of the bubbles). In a warm vintage, these characteristics can be lost in favor of a great still wine.

For example, I am not a big fan of Champagne from Trepail, a southern hill in the Montagne de Reims, where the chardonnay expresses the sunshine as well as the “roasted” character of the vineyard. However, I discovered that when vinified as a still wine, Trepail produces one of the best chardonnays, as demonstrated by the Domaine Carré Frères Blanc Origine 2020.

Bouzy, the village in Reims where the tasting was held, is also one of the best areas for the production of Coteaux Champenois red wines, particularly in terms of concentration and depth, and this showed in the tastings. The Egly-Ouriet 2015 from magnum was exceptionally classic and complex. Both the 2020 and 2021 vintages from Coutier, not to mention an older vintage like the Sotabienne 1979, also from the Ambonnay grand cru, stood out.

The Bouzy rouge from Benoit Lahaye, with a good percentage of whole cluster grapes used during fermentation, is noteworthy for its style, while Bereche & Fils demonstrated that they are comfortable with both Coteaux reds and whites.

The Champagne world is changing with hotter vintages, so it would be a serious mistake to think that the Coteaux Champenois are simply a byproduct of Champagne. Aurelien Laherte harvested the grapes for his Coteaux blanc from a northern slope. When asked why he didn’t reserve the grapes from such a cool slope, he replied that it was 2019, a warm vintage. This indicates that these wines are made with a desire to maximize their quality and to demonstrate the potential of the terroir, and not as a simple alternative to Champagne. James Suckling even tasted a pinot noir from Dom Perignon last year that Moet is seriously considering launching in the market.

And despite the very limited production of still wines in Coteaux, Marguet produces three different labels: Ambonnay, Oger and Avize. “Coteaux production is a matter of passion” Benoit Marguet explained. “It’s a very personal work on the terroir.”

– Aldo Fiordelli, Senior Editor