Lot presentation

Coteaux champenois rouge Fleury 2019

The wine

Enjoy this Coteaux Champenois Rouge from the Côte des Bar. Champagne Fleury, located in Courteron, presents this beautiful single-varietal Pinot Noir cuvée. The 45-year-old vines thrive on 13 hectares of limestone and marl from the Upper Jurassic period. The grapes for this cuvée come from a plot to the northeast of the village called le Replat de Champraux. The vineyard, which has been practising biodynamics since 1989, tends to its vines with great care. The grapes benefit from biodynamic preparations and are nurtured according to the lunar calendar.
Harvesting is done by hand, followed by a maceration period of about twelve days in vats. Additionally, the wine rests for 12 months in oak casts of foudres (large capacity tuns), giving it a distinctive character.
In the glass, this Coteaux Champenois is bright red with ruby reflections. The aromas lean towards tart red fruits, which are also present on the palate. The wine is dense, fruity, and easy-drinking.

About the Producer Fleury Père & Fils

Maison Fleury is located in southern Champagne, in Aube, more precisely in the Côte des Bar, south of the Seine Valley (less than 50 km from Troyes). It covers 15.7 hectares, mostly planted with Pinot Noir (81%) but also with Chardonnay (13%), Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. The domain was founded in 1895. Emile, the great-grandfather of the current generation, winemaker and nurseryman, was the first to plant Pinots Noirs grafted in the region after the invasion of phylloxera. His son, Robert, produced his own champagne for the first time from 1929 and was already part of these still rare récoltants manipulants anxious to produce champagne from high quality vines. His son Jean-Pierre took over the domain in 1962. From 1970 he was interested in more ecological farming practices: mechanical weeding and organic fertilisers. Increasingly involved in "clean" viticulture, in 1989 he became the first Champagne winemaker to convert his vineyard to biodynamics. Since 2009 it has been Jean-Sebastien, the fourth generation of the Fleury family who has taken over the reins by continuing and refining the cultural practices while making the cellar work more precise, especially by creating exceptional cuvées. As well as his domain, the maison purchases (organic) grapes. Both in the cellar and in the vineyards, the domain works with total respect for the grapes, as naturally as possible and by "slowly hurrying", all the champagnes produced which have been aged for considerable time in the cellars before disgorgement. Some cuvées are vinified in wood and some are sulphur-free. In addition, the long history of biodynamics in the domain (over 30 years!) gives the wines a depth and a balance which is rarely reached in the region. It is an unusual and very interesting maison.