Champagne le Château d’Avize: a top vineyard and winery

Winegrowers’ portraits Avize

Champagne Le ChÂteau d’Avize

a top vineyard and winery

Although the restoration of Château d’Avize is not yet on the schedule, although the eponymous cuvée is not yet marketed, the vineyard currently converting to organic farming and the very modern winery equipped with stainless steel vats are on top! In the annexe of the chateau, two ranges of Champagne called Victor Dravigny and Foliage are proposed for tasting. An address to remind for the wine tourists.

Château d’Avize has been built in the XIXth century on a hill top, in the middle of the village and its Grand Cru vineyard. For the Russian new owner, who sells 30 million bottles of sparkling wines every year in Russia, the restoration of the building is not yet planned. In the annexe, since two years, the Champagne negociant and maker strives in France to craft and market two ranges of Champagne, with a small team of 5 persons among whom two are native of Vertus.
Sales manager Cédric Legros tells us: “The Champagne Victor Dravigny is recognizable thanks to its logo that evokes voyage. This cuvée is a living tribute to the French ‘Flying Winemaker’ it bears the name of. Nicolas II, Tsar of Russia, called him to import the Champagne method into the south of Russia. Hundred years later, his memory revives through this brand and its three wines: a non-vintage Brut, well-balanced between the three grape varieties; a Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru made with Chardonnays from Avize and Chouilly and at last a blend rosé. All three are subtle Champagnes with beautiful notes of fruits”, they present an exceptional quality-price ratio of €15 to €17.50, to taste for free on site and by appointment.


On the green roof of the fermentation cellar of Château d’Avize, a ploughing horse.

Cédric Legros in the offices of Château d'Avize, with the cuvées of both brands Victor Dravigny and Foliage.

“More sophisticated, Cédric goes on, Champagne Foliage, recognizable thanks to its butterfly logo, is vinified by the house. It undergoes the two fermentations, uses indigenous yeasts, benefits from ageing on the lees, and has the specificity to limit the use of sulphur.The range consists of three cuvées, a non-vintage Brut, an Extra-Dry and a vintage 2004. All three are presented at their peak, ready to drink, and are on the wine lists of gastronomic restaurants like La Briqueterie or Château d’Etoges in Champagne”.
Lidérick Lesoeurs, production manager, explains: “The cuvée Château d’Avize will crown our production. Only the Grand Chardonnays of the chateau’s vineyard enter its composition. We did our first harvest in 2012 and since then we grow these wines like children. The vine stock being the mother, the father the Gironde barrel that has hosted two or three wines, that will keep the wine of the chateau for ten months. This living material in a living environment requires to limit the impact of oxygen, to reduce the transfers and to fit aseptic bungs to confine the vats. The addition of sulphur of about 2g per hectolitre also is significantly reduced. We expect the vat develops specific aromas, buttery, lemony, toasted notes, and gives the wine some fatness. The domain is vinified by plot, and we know how the 7 delimited plots evolve. To compose the AOC Château d’Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, we gather all the members of the family, the wines matured in vats (60%) and the wine matured in thermo-regulated stainless steel vats (40%). Once bottled, this prestigious cuvée will then be laid down in the cellar for four to eight years before its launch, before it reveals its complexity, straightfor­wardness, consistency, saltiness.”
A promising Champagne, reserved for Epicureans, to be released … in 2016!Marie-Caroline Bourrellis

www.champagne-dravigny.fr
www.champagne-foliage.fr