2016 Marie Courtin Champagne Présence

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

"Présence is a blended Champagne which is unique for Marie Courtin cuvées. This wine is a blend of two-thirds Chardonnay and one third Pinot Blanc to which no sulphites and no sugar (dosage) has been added. The wine was fermented in tank.

It is interesting to have a look at the lot number inscribed in the glass at the bottom of the bottle (you have to look quite hard)! You will see the following code – LP16D0921ND. This code indicates that the vintage is 2016 and that no dosage (ND) was added. The middle part (D0921) indicates that the wine was disgorged in September 2021." - 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.