2009 Veuve A. Devaux Brut D Millesime

Champagne Veuve A. Devaux is in Bar-sur-Seine, in the heart of Champagne. Like several other prestigious Champagne houses, this one was named after a young widow who took over the family business after the death of her husband. The estate was founded in the early 19th century by the brothers Jules and August Devaux. After their deaths, the widow of Auguste took over the business. Her daughter-in-law was widowed several decades later, and the daughter-in-law also ran the estate for the remainder of her life. Remarkably, a 20th century daughter-in-law was also widowed at a young age and until 1981 she ran the estate. Today the estate is owned by a partnership of Champagne producers and it produces a full range of artisanal Champagnes.

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.