2019 Marie Courtin Champagne Résonance

WINEMAKER: Roland Piollot & Dominique Moreau
REGION: Champagne, FR
VARIETAL: Pinot Noir
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic/Biodynamic

"The Marie Courtin Resonance 2019 is a lovely Champagne made from grapes picked from vines that grow at the top of the slope where Dominique’s tiny parcel of vines lies. The vines that have been grown from cutting selected using the sélection massale process from existing vines on the property.

The wine was made from 100% Pinot Noir and hence is classified as a Blanc de Noir (namely a white wine made from red/black grapes). After being pressed directly the juice was transferred to tank where it underwent natural fermentation.

The secondary fermentation is carried out using yeasts that Dominique cultivates locally to preserve the effect of terroir rather than using commercial varieties. The wine was disgorged in December 2021, no dosage was added and is rated as Extra Brut. The term Extra Brut can only be displayed on a Champagne label if it has a very low level of residual sugar in the range 0-6 grams of sugar per litre." - Living Wines

Roland Piollot and Dominique Moreau are serious winemakers who are just as serious about the quality of the soil in which their vines grow – they each have their own vineyards and make their own Champagne but help and advise each other.

Roland assiduously attends to his long mounds of organic compost that he prepares with care for application to his vineyard. The vineyard is being converted to biodynamic practices therefore no chemicals are used, no chemical fertilisers are used and no herbicides are used.

Working with his wife Dominique their compost recipe involves starting with the left overs from the press after harvest then adding manure in January, followed by a biodynamic preparation towards the end of winter. Everything in the compost comes from within 12 kilometres of Polisot, including straw and sawdust.

Roland explains that unlike chemical fertilisers, once applied, their home-made slowly-matured compost “brings what the vineyard needs but slowly”. It make more even growth, not a quick burst and they also like the assurance of knowing exactly what we are putting in the vineyards. He also thinks that the vines like the warmth that comes from the compost.

His vineyard is a special place with sweeping views across the valley in which his home village of Polisot nestles. Here ducks swim contentedly in the tranquil upper reaches of the Seine River and vegetable gardens line its banks. It is an idyllic location. The nearest major town is the ancient city of Troyes.