From the reception hall, the tone is set, pink is everywhere, in the lounge as in the cellar. Patrick Manceaux and her sister Agnès Givry, Roger Manceaux' children, are the happy heirs of a family passion for the Champagne since three generations! These independent wine growers present tasty terroir cuvées!
On the vineyard's side, they extended the Domain from 3 to 12 ha (9 self-owned and 3 in farm rent or sharecropping). It centres around five classed growths: Mailly Grand Cru, and first crus in Rilly la Montagne, Taissy, Villers-Allerand, Trois-Puits; 80 plots of land with varied exposures (north, south, est, west); and 3 grape varieties. The whole gives a fantastic palette used by Patrick and Agnès who imagine, then compose their terroir wines.
On the winemaking side, the tools are modern but the techniques are really traditional (2 fermentations, ageing head down on racks for the vintage Champagnes, on stacks in underground cellars naturally temperate at 11-12 degrees). 280,000 bottles of Champagne lay two floors underground in complete peace. The Manceauxes produce approximately 90,000 bottles a year and still deliver an important Champagne House.
They propose eight cuvées. Patrick considers the most consensual is the Brut Cuvée de Réserve which is a blend of 3 varieties and 5 reference vineyards of the House of the same year, all stemming from a Premier Cru terroir with 40% of reserve wines.
« Très prisées les cuvées Roger Manceaux
sont primées dans de nombreux concours
et font les beaux jours de magazines spécialisés. »
Both vintners' favourite Champagne is La Grande Réserve Brut. It stems from three vineyards (Mailly, Taissy and Rilly la Montagne), five plots of land, two varities Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, two successive years of blending (currently 2009 and 2010) and a percentage of reserve wines. This wine combines powerfulness, structure, vinosity (supplied by the Pinot Noir) with the freshness, fineness and elegance of the Chardonnay. A delight!
Their blended Rosé is not a fashion product but a wine for a meal. They have it in their catalogue since the 1970s. It represents a good sales volume. Crafted with 80% of black grapes out of which 40% of Pinot Meunier from Villers Allerand, and 40% of Pinot noir from Mailly and Rilly-la-Montagne, 5% of Chardonnay and 15% of red Champagne wine, it displays a delicate pink colour. Its aromas of strawberry, raspberry, blackcurrant and other black fruits call for greediness. This rosé will be appreciated as much with a dessert as with a barbecued rib of beef.
The 2005 Héritage cuvée was created in the end of 2013. It combines 60% of Pinot noir from Mailly with 40% of Chardonnay from old vines. Reference to their grandfather René who was a cooper, this vintage has the specificity to have been matured in Burgundy barrels which give the wine spicy, vanilla aromas, a bit of softness.
The Manceaux family does not lack projects. Patrick and his wife Florence are already involved in wine tourism for seven years by proposing bed and breakfast with spa, billiards and a glass … of Champagne to welcome the guests. This family sees the future shine before them!
Marie-Caroline Bourrellis
— www.champagne-roger-manceaux.com —
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