Champagne Adrien Renoir - The 2 Terroirs
In Verzy, Grand Cru of the Montagne de Reims, Adrien Renoir is part of a generation of winemakers who have given champagne a more direct, precise, and earthy interpretation. Coming from a family long established in the vineyard, he took over the estate with the desire to highlight the personality of the crus, the ripeness of the grapes, and the depth of barrel aging. The estate relies on demanding viticulture, conducted organically, with particular attention to Pinot Noir, a naturally structuring grape variety on the chalky soils of Verzy. In this village known for champagnes that are both firm, deep, and very mineral, Adrien Renoir seeks less style effect than the sincerity of the place. The 2 Terroirs fits into this approach with a Grand Cru blend rosé that makes the flesh of Pinot Noir and the chalky freshness of the Montagne de Reims converse. The wine has a more vinous identity than a simple pleasure rosé, while maintaining a saline tension that gives it great momentum. It is a cuvée that speaks as much of fruit as of soil, as much of precision as of dining pleasure.
This cuvée is made from Pinot Noir, with a very small proportion of red wine that brings color, aromatic relief, and a spicier dimension. Available information indicates a blend of around 95% Pinot Noir vinified as white wine and 5% red wine, in the logic of an extra-brut blend rosé. Depending on disgorgements and sources, the grapes are associated with the grand crus of Verzy and a second terroir of the Montagne de Reims, generally cited as Bouzy or Verzenay; thus, it is important to retain above all the idea of a champagne built on two complementary expressions of Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Verzy brings uprightness, chalk, freshness, and that almost saline tension that lengthens the palate. The second terroir enhances the fruity dimension, color, and depth of the wine without losing its balance. Barrel aging and lees aging give the whole a more serious, gastronomic texture, with bubbles that accompany the matter rather than dominate it. The dosage remains low, in an extra-brut spirit, to allow the precision of the fruit and the energy of the terroir to express themselves.
The color presents itself in a delicate pink, slightly salmon, with fine and regular effervescence. The nose opens on fresh raspberry, red cherry, currant, and wild strawberry, then evolves towards notes of mandarin, bergamot, peony, sweet pepper, and damp chalk. On the palate, the attack is lively but quickly supported by a fleshier matter from the Pinot Noir. The wine maintains a beautiful tension, with a clean, saline, slightly spicy finish that avoids any sweet or merely fruity sensation. The balance rests on this contrast between the immediate charm of the rosé, the structure of the grape variety, and the chalky precision of Verzy. This champagne will pair very well with seared bluefin tuna, veal carpaccio, seared langoustines, poultry with mild spices, grilled salmon, rosé pigeon, or a lightly aged pressed cheese. Served around 9 to 10°C in a fairly open glass, it will gain in relief and better reveal its dimension as a gastronomic rosé.
Grape variety: Pinot Noir
