Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesDisgorged in May 2019 with 4.5 grams per liter dosage, the NV Extra-Brut Cuvée M Le Caractère is based on the 2013 vintage and drawn from a solera started in 2002. Offering up delicate aromas of white flowers, walnuts, crisp green apple, fenugreek and nougat, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and incisive, with a delicate mousse and a sapid finish.
The NV Extra Brut is a gorgeous wine. Bright and beautifully focused, the Extra Brut sizzles with tension, but it also has more than enough depth to balance the low dosage of 3-5 grams per liter. The Extra Brut was done 75% in tank and 25% in steel, with no malolactic fermentation, and yet it boasts striking depth and intensity. Chardonnay speaks with power and authority. A whole range of savory and mineral notes linger on the finish, with a light tropical accent that is quite attractive. This is one of the finer editions I recall tasting. Disgorged: October, 2019. Drinking window: 2020 - 2028
The majority of Margaine’s holdings are in the village of Villers-Marmery, a 95% village for Chardonnay, and the parcels here are old averaging about 32 years. Margaine also has a small parcel of Pinot Noir in the village of Verzy.
The methods at this estate are not formulaic and Arnaud continues to experiment with new ideas in both the vineyard and the cellar. He prefers to make decisions in the cellar based on what he feels the wines need, rather than what was done in the previous year. Arnaud is preventing malolactic fermentation in a higher preportion of the wines, saying that he finds that non-malo wines have more freshness of fruit. “It’s not just the acidity” he says, "but the fruit as well. With the malo you lose a little of that fresh fruitiness."
Margaine has been experimenting for the last ten years with aging some of the vin clair in third and fourth use burgundy barrels as well as fermenting some parcels in barrel. Twenty percent of the wines are now fermented in barrel, but these are not used to make a barrel fermented super-cuvees; rather they are a used for blending and achieving balance in the blends. The dosage is also stored in oak barrels, which Margaine says adds additional character.
Arnaud keeps an unusually large amount of reserve wines in his cellars and starting in 2005 he began using bottles rather than stainless steel tanks for some of the reserve stocks. Bollinger is another estate who practices this and Arnaud is pleased with the results. "Aromatically the wine stays very fresh and vivacious" he says.
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.’
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.
