Location and Vineyards
Champagne Bourgeois-Diaz is located in the commune of Crouttes-sur-Marne in the western part of the Vallée de la Marne in Champagne, France. The vineyards form a mosaic of slopes around the Marne. The soils contain clay, silt and chalk and are also described as clayey-calcareous.
Family and Farming
Jérôme Bourgeois is the fourth generation of his father’s Champagne winemaking family; Charlotte Bourgeois joined the estate in 2016. The estate farms around 6.5 hectares: about 3.5 hectares Meunier, 2 hectares Pinot Noir and 1 hectare Chardonnay. Since 2009, the estate has worked without pesticides and has been certified biologically and biodynamically since 2014.
Work in the Vineyard and Cellar
For biodynamic farming, the estate uses, among other things, the preparations 500P and 501, small quantities of copper and sulphur, as well as plant extracts and teas. Since 2018, cover crops have been sown in every second vine row; in 2019, 50 trees were planted on 45 ares as part of an agroforestry project. Most of the work is done by hand. After ripening, the grapes are harvested, sorted and processed by grape variety and parcel in a traditional Coquard press.
The must rests for 12 to 15 hours and ferments with a Pied de Cuve from natural yeasts; the organic acid reduction takes place spontaneously. The wines remain on the lees until March or April and are usually bottled in May. The estate refrains from fining, filtration and tartaric stabilisation. For ageing, among other things, it uses stainless-steel tanks, wood, demi-muids, foudres, concrete, ceramics and amphorae.
Champagnes and Coteaux Champenois
The estate produces eight Champagnes and one red Coteaux Champenois. Most Champagnes mature for two to three years in the bottle, and the vintage wine for more than five years. The Cuvée BD’M is a Brut Nature made from 100% Pinot Meunier from vines about 60 years old and matures on average for 30 months. BD’N is a Brut Nature Blanc de Noirs made from 60% Meunier and 40% Pinot Noir, also with an average ageing time of 30 months.
BD’3C is a Brut Nature made from 35% Meunier, 40% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay and matures on average for 24 months. BD’B Le Temple is a Brut Nature Blanc de Blancs made from 100% Chardonnay from the single vineyard Le Temple in Nanteuil-sur-Marne, on calcareous marl. BD’RS is a Brut Nature Rosé de Saignée made from 30% Meunier and 70% Pinot Noir with around 20 hours of maceration time.
