N.V. Godme Pere et Fils Blanc de Noirs

Godme Pere et Fils is based in Verzenay. The Godmes have been grape growers and winemakers for five generations. Joseph Godme began bottling Champagne under his own name in the late 1940s, a practice that was unusual at a time when most small growers simply sold their grapes to cooperatives or larger producers. Today the 28-acre estate is owned and operated by his grandchildren, Hugues and Sabine Godme. There are 80 parcels within the estate including Verzy Grand Cru parcels, which are mostly planted to Pinot Noir. Godme makes a 100% Pinot Noir Brut Blanc de Noirs, and 85% Brut Rose, a 100% Chardonnay Brut Blanc de Blancs, and traditionally blended 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.