While we believe Champagne is a great wine meant to be enjoyed year round, we know it is more frequently enjoyed during this holiday period.  Champagne is a brand but also a band of small producers crafting wines as much as sparkling beverages.  These "grower producers" offer wines that reflect their place, their grapes and their take on this delicious beverage.  Few are more focused on this that Roland Piollot.  He offers wines of single grape varieties from singular parcels of land.

Champagne Piollot is produced by Roland Piollot and his wife Dominique Moreau from family-owned vines in the Aube. The vineyards are located primarily in the town of Polisot, where the family has deep roots. In 1911, Roland’s great-grandfather was one of the leaders of the famous Aube revolt, which ensured that the Aube would remain an official part of Champagne.

There is something very special about those vines. After the War, virtually everyone started replanting with clones that were more productive or more resistant to disease than the heritage vines. But Piollot’s granddad didn't trust the new clones, and the family never stopped the old tradition of massale selection, where clippings from the best plants are used to grow new vines. As a result, Roland is one of the few local vignerons who can boast 100% heritage vines.

In 1986, Roland decided to bottle the wines himself, and in 2009, he converted all 10 hectares of vineyards to organic farming. Essentially overnight, the Piollot’s production was radically changed. Rather than using the standard recipe of “Brut, Rosé, and Vintage,” the family decided to lead with three single-vineyard cuvées made from a single variety: Pinot Noir (Côme des Tallants), Champs Rayées (Chardonnay), and the hometown favorite Pinot Blanc (Colas Robin). Since the conversion to organic farming, the Piollots have continued to find ways to improve their stewardship of the land, and in 2020, they obtained biodynamic certification for all of their vineyards.  

 

The Wines
The still wines are all vinified with native yeast and are mostly aged in steel tanks, though a bit of the base wine does go into barrels and foudres. Their rosé is produced in years where the Pinot Noir shows especially great quality, and occasional micro-cuvees also appear from time to time.  Bottles are kept on the lees for four to six years and are then disgorged with no dosage.

These wines are striking and this offer a great 'class' for anyone interested in Champagne, we will be pouring the following: