Organic Champagne – Clarevallis

Organic Champagne – Drappier Clarevallis

The Drappier Clarevallis is an organic Champagne from a special assemblage, as it not only uses Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay, but also contains Blanc Vrais (Pinot Blanc). In fact, in addition to the three well-known grape varieties, other lesser-known varieties are also permitted. Champagne Drappier revives this tradition with this new organic cuvée.

The name Clarevallis is a tribute to the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, founded in 1115, and to Bernard of Clairvaux, who built the cellar vault, which was carved into the chalk cliffs and is still used by Drappier today to store their Champagne bottles.

With the Clarevallis Champagne, the 9th generation of the Drappier family is launching a completely organically produced sparkling wine for the first time. While minimal sulfur use was the great concern of father Michel Drappier, the commitment to climate change is now the theme of the coming generation.

It sounds like a step backward to cultivate some of the vineyards with horses, to apply homemade organic compost, to work the vines with organically certified products, to harvest by hand, and to intervene as little as possible in the cellar: vinification by gravity, fermentation with organic yeasts, malolactic fermentation, bottled unfiltered and unfined. Yet, this is a great step forward, connecting history, tradition, and the future.

The Drappier Clarevallis shimmers white-gold in the glass, its very fine mousse is present and persistent. On the nose, it reveals aromas of elderflower, green apple, and white currants. On the palate, it is very fresh with a fine limestone minerality. With 4 grams of dosage, it is a dry Extra-Brut.

Organic Champagne with low sulfur

Since 1808, the Drappier family has lived and worked in the south of Champagne in the Côte des Bar region. They own about 100 hectares of this special terroir, characterized by its unique cool climate, chalky soils interlayered with Kimmeridgian marl, and optimal slope orientations (south-southeast).

After harvesting the grapes, Champagne Drappier takes great care to produce the most elegant and aromatic wines as naturally as possible. Upon arrival at the winery, the grapes are gently pressed using mechanical low-pressure presses. Only the cuvée, the first part of the pressing, is used for the Champagne. The grape must is handled with great care to avoid oxidation and processed using only gravity, without pumps. The base wine is fermented with natural yeasts and aged in stainless steel tanks; a small part matures for a year in French oak barrels. The cuvée has naturally undergone malolactic fermentation, meaning the malic acid in the wine has transformed into the milder lactic acid, which provides a special mouthfeel with a slightly creamy texture and adds further complexity to the Clarevallis Champagne cuvée.

To carry out one of the most important steps in producing good Champagne: the blending, i.e., combining the different base wines for the second fermentation, three generations of Drappier come together and contribute their taste and lived experience: grandfather André Nicolas, father Michel, and grandchildren Charline, who manages sales and marketing, Hugo, who is now the cellar master at Drappier, and Antoine Drappier, who again cultivates the vineyards with the help of horses.

Naturally, the Drappier Clarevallis undergoes a second fermentation in the traditional bottle fermentation method: the Méthode champenoise. After three years of bottle aging, the Drappier Organic Champagne is released to the market. The Champagne is neither filtered nor colored. And Drappier is known for using as little sulfur (less than 20mg/l) as necessary.

Drappier Clarevallis – Extra Brut

• Côte des Bar
• 75% Pinot Noir
• 10% Pinot Meunier
• 10% Chardonnay
  
• 5% Vrais Blanc (Pinot Blanc)
• Disgorged September 2020
• Dosage 4g/l
• Extra Brut
• 12% vol. alcohol
• limited edition

Organic control body FR-ÖKO-001 – EU Agriculture