Champagne Goutorbe-Bouillot

The Goutorbe-Bouillot house is a small grower Champagne estate located in the village of Damery just west of Epernay. Family-owned and run since 1911, the 8 hectares of 35 different parcels of vineyards extend over the Vallée de la Marne with a focus on Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. The union between Jules Goutorbe and Louise Bouillot was the origin of the creation of Champagne GOUTORBE-BOUILLOT. Starting in 1775 the families had been involved in the Champagne business and had been selling their wines to the large Champagne houses. Today the estate is owned by the Papleux family, and Bastien, the great grandson of Jules and Louise, makes the wine and manages the business.

The vineyards extend over a region called Vallée de la Marne (close to Epernay), where, traditionally, the grape variety Pinot Meunier is dominant. The Goutorbe-Bouillot house is following that tradition, although Chardonnay is becoming more important. Currently more than half of Goutorbe-Bouillot's vineyards are planted to Pinot Meunier. The average age of the vineyard parcels is around 35 years old, though some parcels were planted in 1930 and are almost a century old. With great care for quality and the health of the vines, Goutorbe-Bouillot is now certified as "viticulture durable", which is the highest European standard of sustainable agriculture.

Goutorbe-Bouillot Champagnes are produced by a method similar to the Solera system. Each year they use 50% of this reserve wine in the blend. This means that the wine contains some of all the earlier vintages in decreasing proportions. This perpetual reserve was started in 1980 for the Carte d'Or and in 2000 for the other non-vintage cuvees. The aim is to give more maturity and complexity to the wines. In order to keep the natural acidity and aromas from the grapes, the house blocks malolactic fermentation. Thus the wines are fresher in their youth but gain more complexity with aging.