We have written lots about the Champagne revolution, with a new generation sweeping in with new approaches to Champagne: more Growers, more organic farming, more natural wine-making, and smaller producers. Like in any revolution, some... Read More

We have written lots about the Champagne revolution, with a new generation sweeping in with new approaches to Champagne: more Growers, more organic farming, more natural wine-making, and smaller producers. Like in any revolution, some people take it to extremes. And that’s true of Salima and Alain Cordeuil.

Alain Cordeuil was lucky enough to be brought up in a Champagne family with small holdings (about four hectares). So what did he do? He went off to study psychology in Montpelier.

Soon, his senses got the better of him, and he realized that he couldn’t pass up his family heritage so easily. The time in Monpelier was all worth it, as it was there that he met his wife Salima, but it was now time to go home and join the Revolution.

The Cordeuils started to make Champagne unlike any that had been made before. They treated their vineyard like a garden, the vines just one element in a complex mix of flora that grows mostly on its own. Even the site is extreme: their four hectares, all in the Cote des Bars, happen to be among the very highest in all of Champagne.

The wine-making, too, is extreme. There is no dosage and no sulfur whatsoever. Elevage is long – like four to eight years. This is a truly unadulterated sparkling wine from a truly unadulterated vineyard site.