Nicolas Maillart Champagne Les Loges 1er Cru Brut Nature Blanc

In the A.O.C. Champagne, in northern France, there are three typical varieties: Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir. These three grapes are the key ingredients of this region’s sparkling wines, where they create the perfect balance between acidity and sweetness, ensuring effervescence and those famous bubbles.

When it comes to Nicolas Maillart, one of the most renowned winegrowers in the area, Pinot Noir is the variety that reigns supreme on 65% of the slopes that spread over his 16 hectares in the Montagne de Reims (north of the denomination). Here, between Bouzy and Écueil, the Maillart family has been making wine for more than 300 years. Currently, this tradition is carried by Nicolás (ninth generation of the family) who has been running the business since 2003.

Nicolas Maillart makes Nicolas Maillart Champagne Les Loges 1.er Cru Brut Nature Blanc, a sparkling wine made in Les Loges, a premier cru in Viller Allerand, a small village in the north of the denomination, where limestone and loamy soils abound. Despite the years and advances, some things never change and Nicolas Maillart uses the most traditional techniques to cultivate these vineyards: manual labour, environmentally friendly techniques, no chemicals and minimal intervention in the winery.

For Nicolas Maillart, both quantity and quality are very important. For this reason, it is no surprise to see how this French house has mastered the quantities and yields of the vineyard with the ultimate aim of achieving a perfect balance between acidity and sugar, ensuring all the wines undergo a second fermentation in the bottle. So after the harvest and an extensive selection process, Nicolas Maillart Champagne Les Loges 1.er Cru Brut Nature Blanc undergoes its first fermentation in barrels and a second in the bottle, where it spends eight to ten months in contact with its lees.