2012 Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Rosé de Saignée Creux d'Enfer

Cèdric Bouchard has been making Champagne under his own label since 2000, when he acquired the Les Ursule vineyard from his father. He named his Côtes des Bar domaine Roses de Jeanne in honor of his Polish grandmother. He focuses on producing single vineyard Champagnes with low carbonation levels and low or no dosage. With barely 4.5 acres of vineyards, he produces only about 15,000 bottles annually. He is considered a rising star of Champagne. In addition to making wines under his own Roses de Jeanne label, Bouchard makes Champagne for his father’s Inflorescence label. Wine Advocate wrote: “The explosive, kaleidoscopic Champagnes of Cedric Bouchard are some of the most compelling wines coming out of the region today. Quite simply, this set of new releases left me speechless and literally shaking my head in awe. Readers should do whatever they can to experience these magnificent wines.”

Champagne is a small, beautiful wine growing region northeast of Paris whose famous name is misused a million times a day. As wine enthusiasts and all French people are well aware, only sparkling wines produced in Champagne from grapes grown in Champagne can be called Champagne. Sparkling wines produced anywhere else, including in other parts of France, must be called something besides Champagne. Champagne producers are justifiably protective of their wines and the prestige associated with true Champagne. Though the region was growing grapes and making wines in ancient times, it began specializing in sparkling wine in the 17th century, when a Benedictine monk named Dom Pierre Pérignon formulated a set guidelines to improve the quality of the local sparkling wines. Despite legends to the contrary, Dom Pérignon did not “invent” sparkling wine, but his rules about aggressive pruning, small yields and multiple pressings of the grapes were widely adopted, and by the 18th and 19th centuries Champagne had become the wine of choice in fashionable courts and palaces throughout Europe. Today there are 75,000 acres of vineyards in Champagne growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne’s official appellation system classifies villages as Grand Cru or Premier Cru, though there are also many excellent Champagnes that simply carry the regional appellation. Along with well-known international Champagne houses there are numerous so-called “producer Champagnes,” meaning wines made by families who, usually for several or more generations, have worked their own vineyards and produced Champagne only from their own grapes.