Champagne is a luxury good and for decades a land of marketing as well as viticulture. On prospecting visits we often had as much discussion about the labels as we did the wine. Not so when we visited Pascal Bardoux, to whom we were referred by Michel Gros, one of Burgundy’s top vignerons. Pascal cares only about the wine itself: flavors, aromas, and nuances. We often spend half an hour reflecting with him over a single glass of wine.
Bardoux’s vines are on four hectares in Ville-Dommange, a Premier Cru commune to the southwest of Reims. HIs vines are about half Pinot Meunier, with equal plantings of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay making up the balance.
Champagne allows producers develop their own style, and so the non-vintage Champagne at any property can be expected to stay consistent year after year. (In Champagne the juice goes through two fermentations: once dryness as still wine, and a second after a dosage of sugar and yeast to allow the wine to produce the bubbles in the bottle. Its character comes both from the blend of the base wine and from the time it spends on the lees.)
We import both Bardoux’s Champagne Tradition and his vintage Champagnes. From time to time we have magnums of vintage champagne available.