De l'Argentaine Brut Tradition
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The Director of the Coop, Olivier Paris, has brought the cellars into the 20th Century over the last 10 years by investing heavily in the wineries facilities. That program has brought them to a state of the art , full service Cooperative. They currently produce bottles 'sur Latte' for Bollinger, Vranken, Feuillatte amongst many other major Houses.
The wine making is extremely fine, producing clear, crisp wines full of aromas brought by the vins de reserve.
The De L'Argentaine collection of Champagnes are a tiny part of the production, representing only 30,000 bottles per year of this refined Pinot Meunier based Champagne. Production is tightly controlled as this facility has the capacity to vinify wines separately by parcel, due to the vast number of stainless tanks it is equipped with. This gives them a vast pallette to assemble the quality and profile of wines required and to perform small runs of very high end wine such as the Argentaine collection.
They also make a superb red wine, from the Pinot Noir grape, which is highly sought after by the Major Houses for the roses d'assemblage. The bidding on these red wines is extremely vigorous when they are due for release.
A term typically reserved for Champagne and Sparkling Wines, non-vintage or simply “NV” on a label indicates a blend of finished wines from different vintages (years of harvest). To make non-vintage Champagne, typically the current year’s harvest (in other words, the current vintage) forms the base of the blend. Finished wines from previous years, called “vins de reserve” are blended in at approximately 10-50% of the total volume in order to achieve the flavor, complexity, body and acidity for the desired house style. A tiny proportion of Champagnes are made from a single vintage.
There are also some very large production still wines that may not claim one particular vintage. This would be at the discretion of the winemaker’s goals for character of the final wine.
Associated with luxury, celebration, and romance, the region, Champagne, is home to the world’s most prized sparkling wine. In order to bear the label, ‘Champagne’, a sparkling wine must originate from this northeastern region of France—called Champagne—and adhere to strict quality standards. Made up of the three towns Reims, Épernay, and Aÿ, it was here that the traditional method of sparkling wine production was both invented and perfected, birthing a winemaking technique as well as a flavor profile that is now emulated worldwide.
Well-drained, limestone and chalky soil defines much of the region, which lend a mineral component to its wines. Champagne’s cold, continental climate promotes ample acidity in its grapes but weather differences from year to year can create significant variation between vintages. While vintage Champagnes are produced in exceptional years, non-vintage cuvées are produced annually from a blend of several years in order to produce Champagnes that maintain a consistent house style.
With nearly negligible exceptions, . These can be blended together or bottled as individual varietal Champagnes, depending on the final style of wine desired. Chardonnay, the only white variety, contributes freshness, elegance, lively acidity and notes of citrus, orchard fruit and white flowers. Pinot Noir and its relative Pinot Meunier, provide the backbone to many blends, adding structure, body and supple red fruit flavors. Wines with a large proportion of Pinot Meunier will be ready to drink earlier, while Pinot Noir contributes to longevity. Whether it is white or rosé, most Champagne is made from a blend of red and white grapes—and uniquely, rosé is often produce by blending together red and white wine. A Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay will be labeled as ‘blanc de blancs,’ while ones comprised of only red grapes are called ‘blanc de noirs.’