Champagne La Closerie in Gueux
Champagne La Closerie – Jérôme Prévost is run in Gueux in the Champagne region of France by Agnès and Jérôme Prévost. The vineyard Les Béguines is located in Gueux at the edge of the Champagne appellation area.
The Les Béguines parcel
Les Béguines comprises around two hectares in a contiguous plot at an altitude of 120 metres. The soil is described as Paleocene limestone sand from the Thanetian and is around 59 to 55 million years old. The rows run from north to south, with a planting density of between 8,333 and 10,000 vines per hectare.
The parcel is planted at about 94 per cent with Pinot Meunier, 2 per cent with Pinot Gris and 2 per cent with Chardonnay. The Pinot Meunier vines come from a Massal selection and were planted in 1964; Pinot Gris and Chardonnay were also planted using a Massal selection and are from the year 2000.
Work in the vineyard and history
The vines are trained in the permanent cordon and the cordon-Royat system. Vineyard work is carried out, according to the estate, manually, observation-based and adapted to the conditions of the site. Across the entire property, soil loosening and hoeing are used. Since 1994 no insecticides and since 1996 no herbicides have been used; Typhlodromus mites have been reintroduced for biological control. Since 2000 the estate has been working on mycorrhizalisation, uses net sulphur and strictly limits the use of copper.
The first harvest from Les Béguines took place in 1987, with the first wine produced in 1998. Jérôme Prévost describes Anselme Selosse as a friend who, over 24 vintages, conveyed the importance of the gesture in winemaking.
Vinification and wines
The wines ferment spontaneously and mature for ten months entirely on the full lees in wooden barrels. A malolactic fermentation is not mandatory. Used are barrels of different types of wood with a capacity of 225, 228, 400, 500 and 600 litres. The wines are made without machines or electricity and filled slowly by gravity.
Les Béguines has been produced exclusively as Extra Brut since 1998 with a dosage of 2.5 grams per bottle. Fac Similé is a blended rosé Champagne made from 87 per cent Les-Béguines base wine and 13 per cent still red Les-Béguines wine. The first bottling was produced in 2007; annual production is around 3,300 bottles. Fac Similé ferments spontaneously without sulphur dioxide, matures for ten months in 228-litre barrels and is filled slowly without machines or electricity. It is presented as Extra Brut Rosé with a dosage of 2 to 3 grams per bottle.
