Champagne Bag Vol. 5

While my tendency to give in to emotional impulses doesn't always end well for me, every now and then it leads to something worth remembering. Some time ago, while fiddling with the event calendar, I decided it might be a good idea to organise another Champagne tasting in April. Not knowing my travel plans, I just pointed randomly at the 22nd. And sure, things change - it wouldn't be the first time I shift a date.

But, as it turned out, someone (no finger-pointing here) was closely watching the calendar and expressed interest right away. And just like that, a certain sense of commitment appeared. Not that I mind, to be honest. We are talking about Champagne here, right?

Also, it occurred to me we haven't gathered at the Garage/Sabotage for a long time. And they happen to have a few hidden gems stashed away for the restaurant. So what can I say? I want to revisit a more mature Roses de Jeanne, see what's going on with Bérêche's Aÿ, share another bottle from Dehours (a different cuvée this time), try the base wine from Léclapart, and check how Vieille Vigne du Levant 2011 is evolving.

And as always, there'll be a cheerful welcome drink. This time - a traditional sparkling from Moldova. How could it be otherwise?

Divus Winery Brut Nature (d2024) NV

Divus Winery is a small family-run estate located in the heart of Moldova, in the Codru wine region, specifically in the village of Vorniceni. Founded in 2018 by Vasile Bratu, the winery now cultivates around 10 hectares of vines, working with both local and international grape varieties. Their annual production is modest - about 60,000 bottles - but their ambitions are anything but. The guiding philosophy here is to focus on high-quality grapes, embrace bold experimentation, and craft distinctive, character-driven wines.

One of their most recognisable cuvées is Trei Mândre - which translates as Three Maidens, a reference to a folkloric motif deeply embedded in Romanian and Moldovan culture, often symbolising beauty, strength, and mystery.

But today, we're opening something even more special: a traditional method sparkling wine - and not just any, but a Brut Nature. That's right: zero dosage, no sugar added after disgorgement, leaving the wine as pure and direct as it gets.

To those less familiar with Moldova's wine scene, this is quite a moment. While there may have been some isolated experiments, the rise of Brut Nature sparkling wines is a fairly recent phenomenon here. Some trace its roots to Ion Luca's early Brut Nature bottlings - gossips in Carpe Diem (Luca's bar in the heart of Chișinău) even claim that Japanese importers nudged him toward keeping it bone dry. Who knows what's true? What's certain is that more and more winemakers are joining the movement.

Some, like Maks from DiWinety, are pushing boundaries with sake yeast fermentations (which I hope we'll have a chance to taste soon once he disgorges a new release). Others play it safer - keeping residual sugar as high as possible for Brut Nature and reducing lees contact to appeal to a broader audience. But either way, there's movement. There are options. Today, we start with this bottle from Divus: a traditional method sparkling wine, aged four years on the lees, made from two indigenous varieties - Fetească Albă and Fetească Regală.

In my opinion, it's good. It still needs a bit more time in the bottle to fully integrate after disgorgement, but regardless, I'm just thrilled that we're opening it at all.

I had this wine recently, and the experience was nearly identical.

It opens with an intense and beautiful bouquet - honey, raw or green nuts, baked apples, grapefruit, and a touch of cider. The acidity is good, though naturally, it doesn't quite hold up when compared to even moderately crisp Champagnes. Flavours of nut husk, buckwheat honey, and roasted fruit. I loved seeing how many people found it both delicious and intriguing - even in a blind setting.

David Léclapart Cuvée l'Amateur Pas Dosé NV

With the welcome drink behind us, it's time to dive into the main programme. We're starting with David Léclapart Cuvée l'Amateur Pas Dosé.

David Léclapart is one of Champagne's most distinctive voices (that I haven't tasted before lol) - a winemaker who's not only deeply rooted in tradition but also radically committed to pushing boundaries. He represents the fourth generation to farm his family's small 3-hectare estate in Trépail, a premier cru village nestled in the Montagne de Reims. He took over after his father passed away in 1996 and released his first wines under his own name in 1998.

What sets him apart? First, the farming. Léclapart was among the very first in Champagne to convert fully to biodynamics, earning both Ecocert and Demeter certification back in 2000 - a bold move in a region long wedded to industrial farming and blending. His entire production (with exception of entry-level cuvée) is single-vineyard, single-vintage, with no reserve wine and no dosage. Just a pure, transparent expression of place and year.

Cuvée L'Amateur is his entry-level cuvée blended from as many as a dozen parcels of Léclapart's 1er cru vines in Trépail, made entirely from Chardonnay grown on the chalky marl soils of Trépail. It's fermented with indigenous yeasts in enamelled steel tanks - Léclapart refuses to use stainless steel, believing it imparts a kind of "negative energy" to the wine. It's the only cuvée in his lineup not raised in oak; the rest are vinified wholly or partially in used barrels purchased from Domaine Leflaive in Burgundy.

There's a quiet radicalism in Léclapart's wines - stripped of artifice, resistant to Champagne's traditions of blending and manipulation, they are intimate portraits of time and place. L'Amateur, while technically the most approachable and the least vinous in the range, is still razor-sharp and unapologetically dry. No dosage, no makeup - just purity.

It's not a wine that begs for attention - it earns it. So let's take a moment and see what this particular year and this very singular winemaker have to say.

Sake, candy, green apple, and a touch of bitter herbs. A bit restrained on the nose. On the palate, the acidity is razor-sharp, almost piercing. There's an interesting echo of sake in the finish, and the mousse is delicate, though it fades quickly.

What's missing is a sense of wine-ness - it feels a bit underbuilt, leaving the sharpness unjustified. I didn't fully connect with it - maybe it just needs significantly more time in bottle. Still, now I'm curious to explore the producer's more ambitious cuvées, especially those with barrel ageing, which might offer the structure this one lacks. Still, it's a great wine.

Dehours & Fils Lieu-Dit Les Genevraux Réserve Perpétuelle 2013-2017 NV

Dehours & Fils was one of those completely unexpected and deeply satisfying discoveries. I was placing an order from a French website - on the hunt for some older vintages from Jacky Blot - and needed just one more bottle to complete the shipment. And then I thought, why not grab a bottle of Champagne?

I started reading up on the various producers they had in stock - most of them unfamiliar to me - and eventually landed on Dehours. I took a chance. No regrets whatsoever. The wine turned out to be absolutely stunning. Since then, I've made a habit of tucking a bottle or two from these guys into orders from different shops.

This is my first time tasting Les Genevraux, so I was particularly curious to see what they do with Meunier.

Dehours & Fils is based in Cerseuil, on the left bank of the Marne, in a landscape where Meunier dominates. Their 16 hectares are spread across over 40 parcels, with a patchwork of exposures and soils - clay-rich, landslide-prone slopes on limestone and sand rather than the more classic chalk. This is Meunier country, and the village is well-known as a source for Krug.

Jérôme Dehours, who took over in the late 1990s after studying in Beaune, was among the early growers to isolate single vineyard expressions and introduce oak for fermentation. Today, he picks late (with meticulous sorting when needed), works mechanically under the vines, and prefers large 500-litre barrels to smaller formats. His vins clairs are raised with plenty of lees contact to encourage texture and depth.

Les Genevraux is a single-vineyard Champagne made from Meunier, sourced from a lieu-dit of the same name. This specific bottling is a Réserve Perpétuelle - a kind of Champagne solera - that blends wines from 2013 to 2017.

Uuuuf, this was seriously good. Bursting with character - vivid fruit, spice, brioche with beef tartare, citrus soda with echinacea (yo, Žyvčyk), and zest. Just gorgeous.

Precise, deep, and layered, with a long and satisfying finish. The oak is beautifully integrated - adds texture without sticking out. Plush but never flashy, it stays on the right side of elegant.

Funnily enough, it ended up taking the top spot in the blind tasting. And honestly? Well deserved. A standout.

Bérêche & Fils Aÿ Grand Cru 2015

Bérêche & Fils is one of those domaines that quietly reshaped how many of us think about Champagne (at least, it happens to me). Under the direction of brothers Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche - who officially took over in 2004 - it has transformed from a solid family-run house into one of the region's most respected grower-producers.

The domaine is based in Ludes, a Premier Cru village in the Montagne de Reims, but their vineyard holdings stretch across 14.8 hectares in the Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne, with small but important parcels in the Grand Cru village of Cramant in the Côte des Blancs. Farming is thoughtful and labour-intensive. Old vines are cultivated by hand, with no herbicides or insecticides, and yields are kept deliberately low.

Vincent focuses on the vineyards, while Raphaël runs the cellar - where the approach is just as deliberate. Fermentations are slow, native, and largely carried out in barrels. Malolactic fermentation is typically blocked to preserve tension and acidity. One of the more distinctive touches: they use natural cork, not crown caps, for the second fermentation. This traditional method, rarely seen these days, allows a gentle, oxygen-rich ageing process in a bottle - resulting in subtler bubbles and a deeper, more layered texture. Everything is hand-disgorged, nothing is filtered, and the wines speak for themselves.

Bérêche isn't chasing trends or looking for glossy perfection. Their wines are textured, vinous, and unpolished in the best possible way. And while they've become cult favourites - spoken of in the same breath as Selosse, Agrapart, and Prévost - there's still a kind of humility and directness that sets them apart.

Aÿ Grand Cru 2015 comes from a small parcel in the village of Aÿ - one of the region's most revered Grand Crus, particularly for Pinot Noir. Aÿ is known for producing rich, structured, and deeply aromatic base wines, and Bérêche's take on it is no exception.

The 2015 is a vintage bottling, made entirely from Pinot Noir, fermented and aged in oak barrels, and bottled with 4 g/L dosage. It spent 78 months on the lees before disgorgement, gaining depth and a gentle oxidative shading that amplifies its natural power.

It's also a rare bottling: part of the lieux-dits series that Bérêche produces in tiny quantities (in this case we are talking about 3706 bottles), each from a single named site. And while their blends are already serious, these single-parcel expressions offer a quiet intensity that somehow feels even more personal.

In a word? Monumental. But in that unassuming, Bérêche kind of way.

Wow! Cheese crisps! That toasted cheesy crust! Berries, lemon, perfume, cream, a bit of pineapple, meringue.

Incredible acidity, texture, depth - it's profoundly vinous, in the best way. It evolves slowly, with a quiet, yet almost monumental presence. A hint of smoke adds even more intrigue.

This is seriously impressive. My favourite of the night.

Roses De Jeanne Les Ursules UR/R18 2018

Roses de Jeanne is the project of Cédric Bouchard, who began bottling under this name in 2000 after a short career as a sommelier in Paris. He returned to his roots in the Côte des Bar, taking over a small plot of his father's vines near Celles-sur-Ource - and instead of following Champagne's traditional playbook, he rewrote it entirely.

No blending. No dosage. No compromise. Just one vineyard, one grape, one vintage - each time.

It might sound like dogma, but it's not. What Bouchard is chasing is clarity. His work in the vineyard is quiet and deliberate - organic farming, radically low yields, an insistence on perfect ripeness. In the cellar, he uses only the first press juice, lets native yeasts take the lead, and relies on a slow, cool second fermentation to shape the texture. Everything is done to preserve detail and nuance.

The wines aren't filtered through Champagne's usual layers of reserve wines and house style. They come straight from the place, vintage, and Bouchard's exacting vision.

He started small - just 1.37 hectares - and many of the wines remain painfully limited. But each cuvée is a distinct and articulate expression of its origin:

• Val Vilaine -- 100% Pinot Noir from the lieu-dit of Val Vilaine. Often the most approachable in the range, though no less serious. 300--500 cases.
• Les Ursules -- Also Pinot Noir, from a south-facing site on Kimmeridgian limestone. More structured, more brooding. First released in 2014.
• Côte de Bachelin [La Parcelle] -- Single parcel Pinot Noir, aged three years on lees. Around 150 cases annually.
• Haute-Lemblée -- Chardonnay from a chalky plot. Rare, mineral, hauntingly pure.
• Bolorée -- Pinot Blanc. Yes, Pinot Blanc. From a site called La Bolorée. Textured and oddly timeless.
• Creux d'Enfer Rosé -- Saignée rosé of Pinot Noir. The rarest wine in the cellar. Almost mythological in its scarcity.

These aren't showy wines. They don't sparkle conventionally. Instead, they hum with energy - tense, soil-driven, sometimes austere, always precise. They're not for everyone, and that's fine.

Bouchard himself suggests decanting them gently. I'd add - give them time, give them silence, and they'll tell you where they come from.

Red apples and a super mineral nose - oysters, sea spray. Aromatically it's quite closed, but the palate really surprises: think pear soda with tarragon, florals, and a touch of cream.

It doesn't taste like Champagne at all - very vinous, not at all flashy. Interesting, but also a bit... confusing. In a blind tasting, you'd struggle to call it Champagne, and even less so Pinot Noir.

Complex and thought-provoking, but definitely not for everyone. Still, there's something compelling in how unapologetically it leans into its own character.

Larmandier-Bernier Vieille Vigne du Levant Grand Cru 2011

Larmandier-Bernier is one of those domaines that doesn't scream for attention - but if you pay attention, it's hard to look away. Pierre Larmandier took over the family estate in 1988 and has quietly built one of the most respected grower operations in Champagne, especially in the Côte des Blancs. His path wasn't loud or trendy - just persistent, thoughtful, and increasingly precise.

The estate itself has roots going back to the French Revolution, though it formally came together in 1971 through the marriage of Philippe Larmandier and Elisabeth Bernier. Today, it's Pierre and Sophie Larmandier, along with their son Arthur, who run the show - working nearly 18 hectares spread across some of the most iconic chalk soils in Champagne: Cramant, Chouilly, Oger, Avize (all Grand Cru), and Vertus (Premier Cru). Chardonnay dominates, as expected, but there are also small parcels of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.

By 1999, the estate had fully converted to biodynamic farming. Yields are kept low, and many of the vines are now approaching or well past 50 years of age. Nothing here is rushed, nothing feels accidental.

In the cellar, the approach is about letting the vineyards speak. Each cru is vinified separately, with native yeasts and minimal intervention. Fermentation happens in large foudres and Burgundian barrels, depending on the parcel and year. Malolactic fermentation is not feared; blending decisions are made calmly in the summer following harvest. And dosage - when it appears at all - is minimal and always earned in the vineyard.

The lineup is tight and expressive: Latitude, Longitude, Terre de Vertus, Les Chemins d'Avize, Vieille Vigne du Levant, and the Rosé de Saignée. The wines are brisk and mineral, yet never hollow. They carry texture, but not weight. They age beautifully but are never closed off.

This is the most powerful wine in the Larmandier-Bernier range - and maybe the most contemplative. It comes from a single east-facing parcel in Cramant known as Bourron du Levant, planted with old vines - many between 60 and 85 years old - that dig deep into the chalk.

The name might sound new, but the cuvée isn't. For years, it was called Vieille Vigne de Cramant, but people kept confusing it with crémant, so they renamed it after the actual lieu-dit: Levant - the side of Cramant that greets the morning sun. This exposure, combined with the deep-rooted old vines, gives a kind of dense elegance - Chardonnay with weight, but also lift.

The process is consistent with the rest of the domaine. Grapes are pressed gently, the juice is barely clarified, and everything goes straight into large Stockinger casks. Fermentations - both alcoholic and malolactic - happen naturally. The wine spends a full year on lees without fining or filtration.

The tirage takes place in July. After bottling, the wine rests on lees in the bottle for nine more years before being disgorged by hand, one year prior to release. The dosage is minimal, just 2 g/L, which is enough to bring balance, not mask anything.

The result is a Champagne that's deep, structured, and unusually long. It doesn't try to charm - it just is.

Haha - smells like fried egg (in a good way), baked apples, rye bread, and mushrooms. Structurally it's spot on - deep, layered, and beautifully evolved. Quite unconventional, but in the best way. Bold, expressive, and full of character. A striking wine with a strong sense of style.

Raw scores