Frederic Savart

Frederic Savart farms a small grower estate in Ecueil, a Pinot Noir village in the Petite Montagne de Reims. He took over from his father Daniel in 2005, at 23 - a change of course from a youth football contract with Stade de Reims. His grandfather Rene had planted the first vines in 1947; Frederic turned the family fruit into estate Champagnes under his own name.

The domaine runs to about four hectares, three in Ecueil and one in neighbouring Villers-aux-Noeuds, and is overwhelmingly Pinot Noir, including an old massale selection he calls the pinot fin d'Ecueil. He describes the estate as a laboratory of terroirs: parcel-focused, low-dosage wines, fermented mostly in stainless steel with a growing share of large barrels. The labels say it plainly - vins singuliers, identitaires.