Chavost was an unknown village before Aurelien Laherte transformed his family domaine into one of the first and brightest lights of the low-intervention, terroir-focused Champagne movement. Now there's a second revolution going on in Chavost... Read More

Chavost was an unknown village before Aurelien Laherte transformed his family domaine into one of the first and brightest lights of the low-intervention, terroir-focused Champagne movement. Now there's a second revolution going on in Chavost that is every bit as exciting — this time, at the local co-op.

Co-op wines get a bad rap. There are incredible exceptions (the Produttori del Barbaresco jumps to mind), but we usually don't consider the local co-op the best source for a region's best wines. And that makes it hard for the co-op to get good prices for the wine, which in turn creates a vicious cycle of underinvestment.

But Champagne Chavost's chef de cave, Fabian, saw a way out. He knew that the local terroir could produce stunning, pure wines. So he set out to create a line of wines from the co-op's best fruit to express that terroir, without any manipulation. Today, the local vineyards are in conversion to organic and the growers are working incredibly hard vintage after vintage to produce perfect fruit.

Fabian can now produce unmanipulated Champagnes that are every bit as special as the trendiest growers'. The perfectly ripe fruit is so clean that Fabian doesn't need to use any sulfur, even at bottling. This results in Champagnes with pure fruit flavors, classic yeasty notes and the scintillating chalky note of terroir. They also have a deep, savory side that balances the wines' sheer, exuberant fun — assisted by gorgeous structure, pitch-perfect acidity and the finest, silkiest bubbles.

We think that these wines are a sign of things to come from other quality co-ops. As markets mature, more co-operatives should be able to refocus their efforts on harvesting top-quality fruit and making top-quality wines. This will be great for the growers, who will be paid fairly for the work, and for us, who'll be able to drink their beautiful wines.