NV Roses de Jeanne Rosé de Saignee Le Creux d'Enfer

Foot-crushed and saigneed – the second such wine that he rendered from three northwest-facing rows of Pinot, although there are 2006, 2007 and 2009 renditions which I haven’t tasted – Bouchard had only in March of this year disgorged the Brut Rose Creux d'Enfer L04 (i.e. 2004) that I tasted this summer. It smells and tastes of rose hip, black tea, licorice, sassafras and blood orange rind macerated in kirsch, behind which emerge intimations of fresh scallop and oyster that turn umami-rich and mouthwateringly saline on the firm, fine-grained palate. The high-toned root extracts that point toward maceration of whole clusters are delightfully integrated into a finish of formidable grip that, more than anything else, suggests oyster and mussel broth, though with all of the fruit- and herb-related complexity I’ve already adumbrated. This utterly remarkable libation started in on my tear ducts after it had finished milking my salivary glands, and simply must be tasted to be believed! Based on its freshness as recently disgorged, I imagine that from the bottle it should prove worth following for at least 3-4 more years. Considering the passion with which – when we met three years ago – young Cedric Bouchard was still expressing his desire to showcase unjustly neglected Cotes des Bar by means of single-vineyard still wines (not to mention considering how impressively successful these were, at least aesthetically speaking), I was a bit surprised and disappointed when I showed up at his cellars this summer to learn that he had given up on Coteaux Champenoise after “I got tired of trying to explain them to people. For me,” he adds, “(making them) was an experience to understand and know my vines better.” Certainly, Bouchard’s attention to how vines and wine adapt to their soil and terrain has not flagged. And these Champagnes are designed to carry a relatively low-pressure stream of CO2, helping to emphasize their status as wine and at the same time moderate finished alcohol. From 2012, Bouchard has taken over two more parcels of his father’s – one of which always dominated his Inflourescence line – and he feels that the potential of these sites is so strong that rather than continue cropping them at around 40 hectoliters per hectare (already extremely small by Champagne standards), he’s going to start targeting 25 hectoliters per hectare as he does with his other wines, and bottle everything under the “Roses de Jeanne” label, which began with the first vintage from Ursules (a plot his father turned over to him precisely because its yields were naturally so uncooperatively low!). So we must, I fear, forever bid farewell to “intro-level” Bouchard Champagne! Asked how such low yields are going to work on a vineyard that ripens as quickly as Val Vilaine – the basis of the aforementioned Inflourescence bottlings – Bouchard points to what he’s learned about pruning in ways that retard the accumulation of sugar, and also about the need to harvest earlier to preserve acidity. So far – as with the still wines that he has now discontinued – Bouchard hasn’t put a foot wrong that I am aware. And there are nowadays three pairs of feet laboring in the Bouchard vineyards, as he and his wife of four years have recently been joined by a cousin who formerly worked with Arnaud Mortet in Gevrey. Bouchard has become convinced, incidentally, that methode champenois inherently accentuates any woody characteristics in a cuvee and he utilizes solely tanks. Lot numbers here, by the way, have always indicated the wine’s exclusive vintage of origin. But while Bouchard plans to continue showcasing a single site and vintage with each wine, he now plans – because, as he explains, he can now afford – to give them three or more years sur latte, and will hence be authorized to vintage-date. In fact, the Roses de Jeanne wines from 2008 already bear a tiny inscription on their back labels that one could miss, stating “Millesime 2008.” Importer: Thomas Calder Selections, Paris (with various importers); fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29