Alcohol: 12.5%
Grape(s): 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Pinot Meunier, and 10% Chardonnay
Localization: Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France
Tasting Notes: Golden yellow colour, with a fine and regular effervescence. This fruity champagne expresses a lovely freshness, with apple aromas accented by notes of honey, toast and raspberry, highlighted by a thirst-quenching acidity. Serve as an aperitif or with a French apple tart.
Notes: The base wine for this cuvée is a blend of three 1er Cru parcels in Villedommange with sandy/clay soils: “Les Braies”, “Les Monts Teigneux”, and “Les Barbaries”. The blend is 45% Pinot Noir, 45% Pinot Meunier, and 10% Chardonnay. The base wine vintage is blended with 20% of the previous vintage and 20% from a “perpetual reserve” tank begun in 2008. The alcoholic and malo-lactic fermentations are done in tank and the “assemblage” is bottled the following spring. The champagne then rests “sur lattes” a minimum of 30 months before being disgorged. The dosage is 4.5g.
The Domain: Birthplace of Champagne Fresne Ducret, Ville-Dommange has witnessed the journey undertaken many years ago by the first voyagers of the family. For more than a century, successive generations ventured beyond the borders of their forefathers, discovering new frontiers and weaving together what they learned from their explorations with the traditions of their heritage. At the head of the family business since 2007, Pierre Fresne has devoted himself to continuing this family tradition.
The Fresne family can be traced back many generations in the village of Marfaux on the left bank of the Vesle River, and their life’s work was tending grapevines. Adolphe Fresne, born in 1834, was the first in his family to set off on his own. At the age of 16, he decided to leave his parents’ home and seek employment as a vineyard worker in Ville-Dommange. This move became permanent when he married Olive Nachuret, a local girl from a long line of vigerons, and together they started a family. They had four children: Marie-Joseph, Marie-Lucie, Lié-Lucien, and the youngest, Pierre-François, who was affectionately called Onésime.
Onésime, in turn, met and married Marie-Rose Laherte (called Émérentine), whose family had also long been established as winegrowers in Ville-Dommange. They raised three children, Gabrielle, Pierre and Prosper, and the family made its living with their vineyards, selling all of their grapes to the big champagne houses.
Today, it is Michel’s son, Pierre Fresne, who is at the helm of the family domain. Initially, he hadn’t planned to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers; his parents didn’t want him to feel obliged and thus never pushed him in that direction. Instead, he did a bachelor’s degree in English, then moved to England to pursue a career as a language teacher, including a year spent earning a teaching degree at Cambridge University. After three years abroad, though, he missed Champagne and decided to return home. He carried out further training as a winemaker in Avize, then took internships at wineries in Burgundy and New Zealand. It was during the internship in Burgundy that he met his Canadian wife, Daniella, who agreed to make a life with him in Villedommange.
Together, Pierre and Daniella are the embodiment of Champagne Fresne Ducret’s story: at the crossroads of cultures and history. They represent a new generation of winemakers devoted to the future of champagne.
