Lurquin - Augustin - La Parcelle - Growers in Champagne


Aurelien Lurquin 
Aurelien Lurquin is located in the village in Romery along the Marne River in the department of the Valle de la Marne. 
His winemaking background coming from his grand-father a vineyard worker from the Lanson Negociant for several decades. 
He starts making Coteaux Champenois still wine at the beginning. 
Lurquin holding is in total of 2.5 hectares of vines, certified organic from 2012. This is a very small production around Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay only two Cuvee are made so far each vintage.  
Aurelien study oenological and did some experience in Chile (Maule region) and Burgundy (Domaine Pavelot), in 2007 came back home to the Champagne region and start to work in his project to make Champagne from his grandfather holding. To keep alive and sustainable the business still selling some grapes to Leclerc - Briant. All the vineyards are nine parcels in total and are working with a horse, all biodynamic products and green covers crop are in place on the farming. 
The aging is done in cement and barrels and only spontaneous fermentation with the use of native yeast. 
Aurelien is having a kind of dogma in making truly natural champagne. 
The first release of Sparkling coming out in 2017 with 600 bottles of Chardonnay and 400 bottles of Meunier. So a very tiny production. 
The first wines I tasted was from Les Crayeres Bas and Les Barberies from 100%Meunier with vinification 11 months in barrel on lees, the vintage was 2013 and disgorged in 2016 the bottle number was N'262. 
An oxidative style of champagne with notes of beurre noisette, salty almond, salty flakes palate with yeasty, brioche with super energy and tension. 

The Second bottle was from 2014 vintage from only the Les Crayeres Lieu dit with the same style of vinification and aging.
This Cuvee was less oxidative richer and round in the palate with the same tension but less salty and mineral with a more exotic nose and palate. 
Both of them were 0 grams Brut Nature 

The latest bottle I drunk from him was the Chardonnay from 2014 Degorge in 2017 from only 280 bottles made and my one was N 108. 
Dosage was Zero, 
Normally I don't like the steely finesse of Chardonnay champagne, but here Aurelien did a tremendous job with oxy notes along with a good core of fat trough oak aging and great palate with tension, minerality, apple, apricot and plum with baking notes and salty element quite citrusy on the finish. 

 

Marc Augustin 
A fifth generation of grapes grower in Avenay Val D'or in Montagne de Reims. Currently Marc and his wife Emanuelle farming with a very interesting alternative method a kind of healing practice called HomSham from the guru Eduard Van den Bogaert.  HomSham is a sensitive way of farming without chemical or machine which breaks into 5 different realms:
- Mineral 
- Vegetable
- Animal 
- Mental 
- Homeopathic realm 
which are considering the basis of healing. 
In 2013 they apply for Biodynamic certification with the advice of Alain Glauda a geobiologist and farmer. The second man to advice Marc was Herve Jestin from Leclerc Briant in the winemaking technique. 
Their holding is 9.5 hectares spread across Avenay Val D'Or and Vertus with a mixture of soil Limestone, clay, and silt. 
The grapes are picked only by women to keep fertility and energy. Pied de Cuvee (A method to cultivate the wild yeasts that are on the skins of the grapes; it helps with fermentation at winemaking) is used for primary fermentation, malolactic happening only natural, every step are done following the cycle of the moon. 
His wines are named after the rules of the Kabbalah "esoteric Jewish thought". 

Gaia is a Cuvee Saignee from 2014 with 24 months of Geomaturation (buried in the soil) in the bottle. 
From this Cuvee, in 2014 only 500 bottles are made and we drunk The N'212. 
100% Pinot Noir 
Raspberry and cherry notes with orange citrus, tangelo, toasted hazelnut, blood orange, and cherry compote. Soft mouse and persistence rich and powerful palate at the same time the wine is airy and mineral. Some pomegranate and cardamon in the palate with slightly spice Christmas cake, long finish and truly complex. 

Stephanie Chevreux and Julien Bournazel  
These two guys don't come from a family in Champagne instead they started as manual labor contracts, first in the vineyard in Champagne and later in the Savoie and Jura where they fell in love for Biodynamic farming and artisan approach. 
They hold a very small amount of vines in Bazy Sur Marne just 0.4 hectares only Meunier. They start under the help of Dominique Babè président de l'Entreprise Union Champagne. Currently, they are responsible for more than 100 hectares of vines which they manage only the vineyard work. La Parcelle is the name of the Champagne house which is dedicated to this small half hectare a very steep one. The farming is only biodynamic, to fertilize the soil they use their own compost from goat manure which is raised by them; this is part of the holistic approach and philosophy of Julien and Stephanie. The harvest is done when the grapes have reached full maturity and after picking are pressed on a fruit day. Malolactic is stopped with a minimal dose of S02 the wines are not fined and filtered are bottled in a flower day. Cover cropping has been done in the vineyard to face soil erosion, for the steep slope. 
The first wine I had was the vintage 2013 with 32 months Sur latte. 
A kind of Chablis with bubble with salty sensation and sea reminiscent as oyster water, fresh seashell and lots of energy through the palate and nose. Tension is a very good part of this champagne. 
How you can see on the pick below "retrolabel" this champagne reaching just 11.7% 
The second bottle 2014 vintage disgorge in February 2018.
Very similar but the wine had more round palate and less mineral element... 
This is perhaps the smallest producer in Champagne with a great story trough Goats and a small vineyard.  
raffaele mastrovincenzo

Blog 
raffaelemastrovincenzo.blogspot.com.au
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wine / spirit / lambic / drinker

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