Alcohol: 12%
Grape(s): Chardonnay
Localization: Champagne, France
Tasting Notes: Mineral, nougat, salty and long – basically a Grand Cru Chablis with bubbles.
Notes: Mainly from a small parcel of Chardonnay in Briaunes supplemented with scattered plantings of Chardonnay in Bertrand’s other lieux-dits. Small in volume now, it will increase when the young vines in Vouette begin to come online.
Hand harvested, natural yeast fermentation in French oak, minimal SO2. Aged 18 months on the lees, bottled without dosage
The Domain: Vouette & Sorbée wasn’t necessarily Bertrand Gautherot’s plan when he took over his family’s vineyards in Buxières-sur-Acre. Initially he was going to farm his parcels conventionally and sell his grapes to large Champagne houses in the north. With an evolving respect for his terroir and concern for his young family, Bertrand set about declaring independence from the outdated echelle system and the negative pressure it places on growers. Inspired by friends Jérôme Prévost and Pierre Larmandier, he converted his vineyards to biodynamics, and he received certification from Demeter in 1998 and released his first Champagne in 2001.
Located in the Côte des Bar, Bertrand’s estate is named after two of his lieu-dits: Vouette & Sorbée. Unlike the vineyards in the north of Champagne with their fine chalky soils, the Côte des Bar is more like Chablis – dense, rocky, Kimmeridgian, and Portlandian limestone clay soils. Historically Pinot Noir was the dominant variety in this region, but Bertrand is slowly expanding his Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc holdings. If asked, Bertrand will say that he is a farmer first and foremost, and in addition to vines, he raises chickens and cattle and operates a nearly self-sustaining enclosed ecosystem. Bertrand’s range is made entirely from hand-harvested grapes and fermented with indigenous yeasts in French oak barrels. Nothing is chaptalized, filtered, or acidified. There are no cold macerations, and a small amount of SO2 is added right after the grapes are pressed. Bertrand prefers to make wines as transparent as possible, so he doesn’t use liqueur de l’expedition.
Buy 6 bottles of regularly priced (not on sale) wines and receive 5% off.
Buy 12 and receive 10% off.
Email sale wines do not combine nor count towards the above discount.
We would consider all wine to be "Natural". The term "Natural Wine" has the connotation of lacking a touch with nature. The winegrowers we champion are those who are farmers first. They seek to capture the uniqueness of the site (terroir) in the purest way possible. The product is as pure as possible and without wine-making flaws (brettanomyces, mercaptans, volatile acidity, etc.
Raw, in this case, we define as realistic and not manipulated. The winemakers use the least amount of intervention as possible. Wine should be made in the vineyard, not the cellar. The winemaker's job is to get the wine into the bottle in the purest form possible. There are additives that go into making wine, some are essential and some are not. Wines in this category do not have extra additives. They are free of added sulfur, or have the most minimal amounts possible in order to provide shelf stability for the consumer to experience the wine as the winemaker intended it to be.
