Christophe Baron
Most people know Christophe Baron as the Frenchman who planted a vineyard in a Washington State field full of rocks and ended up making some of the most talked-about wines in America. What fewer people know is that he also makes Champagne — from the exact land where his family have been growing grapes since 1677.
As with everything Baron does, the wines are available only through a mailing list. Getting on it takes patience which, in his world, seems to be something of a recurring theme.
WeiterlesenA Family Story, Three Centuries in the Making
Baron was born near the village of Charly-sur-Marne in the Champagne region of France, the youngest in the centuries-old Champagne house Baron Albert. His ancestors had worked the land since 1677. He studied viticulture at the Lycée in Avize, then moved to Beaune in Burgundy where he became fascinated by the concept of terroir, the idea that a single vineyard, farmed well, could speak for itself in the glass. That idea would follow him to Washington State when he founded Cayuse Vineyards in 1997.
Baron started Champagne Christophe Baron in 2014. The fruit comes from vineyards that originally belonged to his parents in the Marne Valley. Northwestwinereport When he and his sister inherited these plots, he took four of the oldest parcels of Pinot Meunier for himself. The first release, the 2014 vintage, hit the US market a few years later.
The Vineyards and terroir
Baron's estate in Champagne covers 3 hectares (7.5 acres) surrounding the villages of Charly-sur-Marne, Crouttes-sur-Marne, and the hamlet of Porteron, with vineyard holdings made up of only very old parcels of Pinot Meunier.
There are four plots in total. Le Dessus du Bois Marie was planted in 1966 and 1967 and covers about 2 acres. Les Alouettes is just under an acre, planted in 1968. Les Hautes Blanches Vignes is the youngest, planted in 1969. Les Clouseaux, the newest wine in the range, comes from a parcel in Crouttes-sur-Marne with vines first planted all the way back in 1925.
Baron's cousins handle the viticulture while he is in Washington. Yields are kept very low, usually only 5,000 to 6,000 kilos per hectare, about half what the CIVC regulations allow.
Baron commissioned world-renowned soil scientists Claude and Lydia Bourguignon to study his hillside parcels. They found great variability covering all the geological stages found in the Marne Valley, and declared the estate "a palette and mosaic of soils uniquely suited to his unique approach.
The topsoil is very thin, about six inches, before hitting pure calcaire de Saint-Ouen, the limestone bedrock typical of this part of the Marne Valley. The sites all sit on hillsides with varying exposures and slopes, which is exactly why each wine tastes different despite all coming from vineyards within a few miles of each other.
The grapes
Pinot Meunier is the traditional grape variety of the Marne Valley and the most adapted to this region. For this reason, Baron has chosen to grow and vinify only Pinot Meunier. In mainstream Champagne, Meunier has long been treated as a blending grape, useful but secondary. Baron disagrees, and he's part of a small group of grower-producers proving the point.
The Winemaking
Baron's philosophy is "single vineyard, single vintage, single grape and no dosage." No blending across plots, no blending across years, no added sugar to round off the edges.
All the wines are fermented in French oak barrels, about 25% new. They undergo full malolactic fermentation followed by lees stirring. Like Krug, Baron uses used oak rather than stainless steel, which adds a subtle richness without dominating the fruit. Fermentation uses indigenous yeast, in a mix of demi-muids and barrels.
Everything is bottled in magnums only, never 75cl. The reasoning is practical: a magnum works perfectly for four to six people at a table, and Champagne ages significantly better in larger formats.
The Wines
The lineup of four, Les Hautes Blanches Vignes, Le Dessus du Bois Marie, Les Alouettes, and Les Clouseaux, each reflects its individual parcel.
