Champagne Vazart-Coquart is featured in the latest issue of VIGNERON Magazine #59, now available at newsstands.
The article highlights the art of dosage and the craftsmanship of Jean-Pierre Vazart.
You’ll also find the tasting note for our Parcellaire AD 191 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Extra Brut 2016, a beautiful expression of our terroir.
📸 Photo credit: Leif Carlsson @leifcarlssonphoto
🖋 In collaboration with: @vigneron_magazine
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That morning, a golden light flooded the hillsides of Chouilly. Under our feet, the earth, still beaded with dew, gives a glimpse of the chalk, the precious mineral richness of the Côte des Blancs. The sun, already high in the sky, lights up Jean-Pierre Vazart’s face: ‘You’re right on time, and that reminds me of the millimetre-perfect dosage, that precise gesture, like the last screwdriver stroke of a watchmaker adjusting the cogs so that everything is perfectly in place. With his characteristic humility and simplicity, the winemaker describes a process that has seen him change the style of the house through a more controlled and refined dosage: ‘I realise that twenty-five years ago we weren’t at the top of our game in this respect. We neglected this part of the winemaking process,’ he admits bluntly. At the time, the prevailing idea was that customers had a sweet tooth. We had to soften the blow, make the wine more accessible, almost cajole it: ‘There was a discrepancy between my vision of wine and that of my customers. We used a little more to please them. But is that really how you want to create your wines? It was the emergence of extra-bruts that opened his eyes: ‘We didn’t have that in the range, and from time to time customers would ask us why. So I started working on the subject, and it was a real revelation. He recalls this decisive moment with modesty. ‘Behind my brut, there was some wine we’d been working on… but we didn’t dare start from scratch when it came to sampling. We went straight to the brut, without exploring what had come before. The switch to extra-crude fifteen years ago marked a turning point: ‘I had always thought that balance came from maturing. If you want to reduce the sugar, you have to increase the ageing time. This approach led him to rethink the whole dynamic of his no-year range, where the brut, extra-brut and zero-dosage, although made from the same base wines, each follow a different path. The brut is marketed younger, while the extra-brut and zero dosage are patiently biding their time: ‘It takes time for the wine to round out and stand up to being laid bare,’ he explains lucidly.
For this experienced winemaker, dosage is never a preconceived idea: ‘It’s the wine that dictates its final dosage! In this intuitive process, each wine is listened to and respected. But he is aware that sugar, while seductive, can be treacherous: ‘Its biggest flaw is that it masks. If you have a really discreet, precise, fine wine and you force it too much, you’re going to sabotage the work. You have to find the right balance to smooth out the
acid effect. It’s a bit like squaring the circle’. The real revelation came during the dosage tests for the 2009 Special Club: ‘Before this cuvée, all my vintages were dosed as brut. This time, I started sampling at 4 grams as usual and, on first tasting, it was very good. But a few days later, doubts began to creep into his mind: 4 grams was too much. ‘I disgorged a bottle, tasted the wine without any dosage and realised that it was the balance I was looking for. In the end, we ended up with 2 grams. That experience taught me a lesson.
Since then, he has systematically started his sampling at zero and all his vintages are now measured out as extra-brut. This stylistic shift had to be taken on board: ‘I’m the guarantor of the Vazart-Coquart style, and I needed it to evolve. Above all, I had to like it. It was a bold step, but one that was necessary to remain true to his taste and aesthetic, without compromise. ‘The evolution of the dosage over time has to be taken into account. You need a certain amount of experience to imagine what the wine will be like in six months’ time when it’s ready to be sold. He is also aware of the ambivalence of sugar: ‘It’s both a friend and an enemy that needs to be tamed. And that’s how Jean-Pierre Vazart opened the door to a new philosophy, irrevocably attracted by this sincere quest for balance and transparency, where each wine, in all its finesse, tells its own story / YOANN PALEJ