Champagne Savart & Drémont Père & Fils Éphémère 017 Extra Brut Grand Cru NV
92 Point Collectible Savart Champagne!
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Why We Love It...
Just like before…if you can find any hard details on this rare wine over the interwebs… give me a line, because I just might have a job for you! All kidding aside, this entire portfolio is shrouded in secrecy – no website, and seemingly every other retailer has a slightly different story about this wine – like an international game of telephone, almost. Yet, at the end of the day, a lot of hardcore wine folks – and bubble monsters – are fervously abuzz about the elusive Éphémère collection… ourselves included. Undoubtedly, a huge part of that is the name, Frédéric Savart – the wizard behind the curtain for this exciting project.
Apart from his day job, crafting rare Champagnes under his eponymous label, Frédéric Savart started this project in 2014 to highlight and feature some of Champagnes' less famous sites. Vineyards that were underachieving – according to him, at least – and in need of a skilled hand, and a branding nudge. He partnered with Phillipe Drémont – a small house with holdings in the Grand Crus of the Côte des Blancs (Avize, Oger, and Le Mesnil) and they began scouring properties willing to allow this new team to make a one-off production of Champagne, from these unique sites, in extremely limited quantities (roughly 200 cases) to be labeled and sold under the name Éphémère. Each cuvée gets a number, identifying this Blanc de Noirs as the 17th release under this new partnership. (And not a reference to the vintage, as the folks at Jeb Dunnuck have mistaken…)
Frederic consults on the farming, and the harvest – guiding the fermentations to achieve the maximum quality. The aging occurs in the Drémont cellars in Sillery, in the Marne Department, where careful aging over the years is determined on a case-by-case basis – through rigorous tasting and dosage trials by the team. For this cuvée (again, as best as I can tell) the wine is based on the 2018 vintage, with a healthy dose of reserve wine, and 100% pinot noir from some very top Bouzy and Ambonnay Grand Cru vineyards. The wine is aged on the lees for a full 40 months, with a finishing dosage of only 2 grams per liter.
The result is one of the more unique wines I’ve tasted from Champagne – in the best possible way! The aroma is profoundly nutty – with raw hazelnut and walnuts, joined by unsweetened cacao nibs. The mouthfeel is broad and expansive – and simply loaded with cherries, orchard fruits, lemon verbena, and root cola… with mineral accents of crumbled chalk and iron. It’s a powerful, rich, and severe expression of Champagne – incredibly vinous, seemingly old and young at the very same time. The closest I can compare it to is rare cuvées from some of Champagne’s oldest houses – where they blend reserve wines over vintages going back 5+ decades, with a new(er) Champagne base. Now… it’s not that (if it were – I’m certain it would be many, many times the price) but the sensation is akin… and equally mystifying and enchanting. It’s a remarkable experience… and sure to delight and confuddle even the most tried and true Champagne aficionados. At the end of it all – Grand Cru Blanc de Noir Champagne – crafted by this team, at this incredible price… well, it’s a tremendous opportunity to taste the expertise of one of Champagne’s best regarded vintners – I just hope there is still some left!!!
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Champagne Savart & Drémont Père & Fils