Why Drink Grower Champagne?

By Catherine | On Nov 30, 2011 | 1 Comment | In Champagne

Hello to my friends and followers.  Yup, I dropped the ball last week.  Traveled to Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving holiday (hope yours was yummy and that you drank some good wine), had some unexpected issues and just didn’t get a post done.  This is my new logo which will be incorporated, soon!

I am back to my grower producer Champagne topic.  Why should you drink Grower Champagne?  There are so many reasons, but I think this sums it up:  “You should drink it because it is honest REAL wine grown and made by a vintner – by a family – by a “him” or a “her”, not an “it”.  You should drink it because it’s better to buy wine from a person than from a company.”  Here’s another reason:  Annual production for most of these wine makers is in the range of 4,000-18,000 cases.  In contrast, one of the big names that all of you know produces over 1,000,000 cases per year.

Gaston Chiquet Special Club

Within the realm of grower producers there is a group known as “Special Club”.  Wines designated as Special Club are the best of the best.  The “Club” was begun in 1971 by a group of growers who wanted to combine their marketing efforts.  In order for a wine to be released under the Club label, it must be estate-grown and adhere to a set of strict rules.  Each Club wine undergoes 2 blind tastings by a panel of Club members, one as a still wine and again after 3 years of aging.  Some wines fail these tests.

Here is a link to a distributor who features grower producer wines.  Take a look and see if you can find any of these at a quality wine shop in your area.  http://www.skurnikwines.com/wines.cgi?rm=do_search&appellation=CHAMPAGNE

Drink more Champagne!!

Written by Catherine

Catherine developed a passion for travel, food, and wine early in life. She owned and operated a gourmet catering business and small restaurant for twenty years, earning a number of awards. Eventually she chose to leave the food and beverage industry, but continues to enjoy cooking and furthering her knowledge of wines.

1 Comment

  • As I mentioned, Ross and I had Champagne Chartogne – Taillet Sainte – Anne Brut, which is a grower-producer bubbly, at our pre-Christmas dinner at Monocacy Crossing. So good. It’s amazing the difference between the $25 bottle of Chandon we sometimes drink on a normal Friday night and the higher priced French. Yum!

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