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Rising Star of Cote-Rotie: Nicolas Champagneux!
Nicolas and the Champagneux family have Cote-Rotie in their blood.
His father, Gerard, was the head of vineyard management at Guigal and responsible for farming the famed vineyards of Cote-Rotie for Guigal. His uncle managed the family vineyards, producing a few casks per year for family consumption as the Champagneux holdings were key vineyard sources for Guigal.
Nicolas, over the years, worked with his father and uncle assisting in the vineyard management and cellars with his spare time from being a full-time high-wire electrician. As a young man, his summers were spent working the vineyards at Guigal alongside his father.
However, with the passing of his uncle, Nicolas inherited a parcel of one of the greatest vineyards on Cote-Brune, Les Grandes Places. This compelled Nicolas to make the transition into establishing the family domaine and producing their wines for commercial release.
The Champagneux holdings of Les Grandes Places were always sold to Guigal until Nicolas began his venture. With the assistance of his wife, Oriane, who works at Les Vins de Vienne and mentorship from Yves Cuilleron, Nicolas constructed a winery and began to produce his own wines. The results have been a buzz in Cote-Rotie and the 2016s are a break-out success for Champagneux.
Purity and tradition of La Vialliere - Domaine Champet!
Domaine Champet is one of the most important stewards of one of Cote-Rotie’s finest vineyards, La Vialliere. You have to go back three generations to Emile Champet who undertook the near impossible task to rebuild the ancient Roman terraces, re-establishing viticulture once again in this remarkable site. A site shared with some of the greatest names in Cote-Rotie like Albert Dervieux.
Like Dervieux, Champet Cote-Rotie are ultra-traditional. 100% whole-cluster with native yeast fermentations in old neutral oak are the hallmarks of Champet’s 18-month average elevage.
Today, brothers Romain and Maxime run the estate, holding steadfast to the traditions established by their grandfather and father. Yet, it is with their wines that Champet is quickly becoming known beyond the local community of Cote-Rotie. The wines are soulful and compelling. They are old-school, loaded with charm and purity that harness and convey just how special the terraces of La Vialliere truly are. Many have called these wines throwbacks, yet we prefer to equate them with tradition and modernity. It is with time and experience that is handed down over the generations that moves domains forward in winemaking and farming. The core principles never change but the people and personalities that cultivate and produce the wine ultimately leave their mark. Domaine Champet from the brothers Romain and Maxime are members of the unofficial traditional estates club that would include Bartolo Mascarello’s, Maria Teresa; Lopez de Heredia’s, Maria Jose; and Jamet’s, Jean-Paul to name a few. These estates along with Champet are producing their finest wines today, founded on the core of tradition yet it is the sum of the experiences and these people that make the wines what they are today - exceptional.
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