Bordeaux Bubbles.
The Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur appellations cover almost half of the surface area of the Bordeaux vineyards region. Within this rather amorphous category, there are many hidden gems. In previous posts, we’ve already looked at Dry Whites, Rosés and Clairets, but there’s another lesser-known appellation worth your attention, Crémant de Bordeaux. AOC Crémant de Bordeaux is one of the eight French Crémant appellations including Alsace, Burgundy, Loire, Die, Jura, Limoux and Savoie.
In Bordeaux terms, Crémant de Bordeaux is a young appellation, dating from 1990, whereas most of the Bordeaux appellations date back to the 1930s. Sparkling wine production was well established in the region before then, dating back to at least the 19th century.
Another niche .
It’s still tiny. In 2019, around 200 winemakers produced 7.5 million bottles of Crémant (white and rosé), still less than 2% of Bordeaux production. but growing fast. The vast majority, 69%, is white which has increased by over 250% in the last ten years. The remaining rosé is growing even quicker at a stunning 466%.
Blend.
Crémant can be a blend or a single varietal wine and the classic Bordeaux varieties are used. Crémant Blanc can be a blend of both white and red varieties or a Blanc de Blanc, only using white grapes.
Just as with white or red AOC Bordeaux, the principal varieties, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Malbec, Merlot, Muscadelle, Petit Verdot, Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Gris must make up at least 70% of the blend. The accessory varieties, Colombard, Merlot Blanc and Ugni Blanc, can make up no more than 30%.
The base (still) wines for Crémant Rosé can be made by press or by ‘saigné’ method or by blending white and red wines before the bottling for the second fermentation.
Hand-picked.
For Crémant, grapes must be hand-picked and at a low sugar level, less than 144g sugar per litre, which gives a still wine with a minimum 9° alcohol. After secondary fermentation in the bottle, the alcohol will rise to a legal upper limit of 13 %.
Traditional sparkle.
As with other Crémant appellations, the wine must be made in the ‘traditional’ method, with the second fermentation (la prise de mousse) where the sparkle comes from, taking place in the bottle.
Most producers use specialist ‘elaborateurs’ for this secondary fermentation, there are six in Bordeaux, although a few producers do the whole time consuming and delicate process in-house.
After the first, alcoholic, fermentation in vat or occasionally in barrel, the still wine is bottled with an added dose of sugar and yeast to start the second fermentation.
Bottling for this second fermentation takes place a minimum of three months after harvest. The wine must spend a minimum of nine months ageing in the bottle, on the lees, before disgorging (removing the clear wine from the lees) and then another three months before shipping. According to Corinne Lateyron (see below) sparkling wines suffer from a type of ‘bottle shock’ after disgorgement, even more than still wines after bottling. The minimum time in bottle is 12 months, 9 of which on lees. In reality, most Crémant remain on the lees for longer – see examples below.
The wines can be non-vintage (NV) or vintage. Vintage implies a traceability but also a longer ageing period. Unlike Champagne, Bordeaux does not declare a vintage for their Crémant, vintage Crémant tend to be reserved for the best years.
High and dry.
It is the addition of the ‘liqueur d’expédition’ after disgorgement that defines the categories of extra brut, brut or demi-sec.
- demi-sec wines have 32-50 grams of sugar per litre
- brut, less than 12 grams of sugar per litre
- extra brut ,0-6 grams of sugar per litre
Brut nature, “pas dosé” or “dosage zéro” contains zero dosage, resulting in a finished wine with less than three grams sugar per litre.
Underground production.
The majority of right bank Bordeaux terroir is clay over limestone, cooler soil conditions that are great for dry white wines and Merlot grapes. The limestone subsoil has been exploited for quarrying for centuries. These ancient quarries now offer the perfect, consistently cool conditions needed for the traditional Crémant method.
Wines to try.
Many of my favourite Entre deux Mers wine makers have added Crémant to their range, names that will be familiar to readers include Château Theuiley whose Crémant de Thieuley is a 50 % Semillon 50 % Cabernet Franc blend aged for 18 months on the lees. Chateau Bauduc and Château Lestrille both produce a Blanc de Blancs. Bauduc Crémant is 100% Semillon aged for 24 months and Les Bulles de Château Lestrille, a delicious 80% Semillon, 20% Muscadelle blend, in a beautiful bottle.
But it is underneath the vines of Saint Emilion where Crémant is bubbling. The Lateyron family have been in the Saint Emilion region since the 18th century and are one of the first Bordeaux producers of Crémant. Fourth generation siblings, Corinne and Lionel now run the family estate in Montagne Saint Emilion, Château Tour Calon, with oenologist Corinne in charge of the Crémant. Saint Emilion and the surrounding satellites are known for their limestone subsoils. As well as offering excellent grape growing terroir, there is also a network of old underground quarries excavated since the 9th century.
The Lateyrons’ impressive cellars, carved into the limestone beneath their vineyard, provide the ideal environment for the secondary fermentation and bottle ageing of Crémant.
The caves were Ecocert certified in 1993 and the vineyard followed in 2010. A philosophy of sustainability and low intervention wine making that infuses all aspects of the business. This, Corinne believes, is the key to producing a Crémant of personality.
Alongside their own three labels, two thirds of their activity is undertaking the specialist ‘prise de mousse’ bottle fermentation and ageing for other wine makers. They offer a complete service from bottling, secondary fermentation, ageing, disgorging and preparing and final ageing before shipping. This includes both the traditional remuage (moving the bottles to make the lees descend into the neck so they can be expelled) by hand and in rotators.
Their role is not limited to in-cellar activity. Corinne is the regional specialist for Crémant, her 20 odd years of experience, including training in Champagne, has taken her as far as Argentina to consult. Closer to home, she consults with local wine makers on how to grow, pick, ferment and age their still wines with the objective of creating a great Crémant, keeping that all-important balance of acidity and personality.
Her own preference is for a blended wine, considering blending the true expression of Bordeaux. For her, in the absence of Chardonnay the backbone of Blanc de Noirs adds personality.
Of her three labels, medal winner, Lateyron Centenaire brut is her best seller. A 70% Sémillon, 30% Cabernet Franc blend, from still wines of the Entre Deux Mers, it spends 18 months on the lees with a dosage of 10g sugar per litre. It’s an easy drinking, perfect aperitif wine.
She prefers the drier Paulian, which spends 2 to 3 years in the caves, with 40% Cabernet and just 6g of dosage, she finds it less exuberant but more balanced and more interesting as a food wine, always an important consideration for the French!
Her favourite is the Abel, a vintage brut zero, first produced in 2010. Corinne selects old vine Semillon and Cabernet Franc for minerality, part aged in oak before a late bottling. After five years bottle ageing, the finished wine has lovely grilled notes. The 2014 is the current vintage available.
Transatlantic sparkle.
Rarecat is Another Medal Winner. Made from 100% Sémillon grapes aged for 9 months on the lees, this NV Brut is designed by American Sharon Kazan Harris specifically for the American palate. Sharon has a foot on each side of the Atlantic, as well as making wine in Bordeaux and in Napa she owns a beautiful villa in the heart of Saint Emilion available for rent. The perfect place to sip Rarecat Crémant by the pool. For American readers you can buy Rarecat in the US online or at her Napa tasting room.
A religious experience.
The old cloisters of the 13th century Cordeliers, tucked away down a back street of UNESCO heritage site Saint Emilion, has become a destination for Crémant de Bordeaux lovers. 20 metres below the old church are quarries dating back to the 9th century, where still wines from the surrounding vineyards have been brought since 1892 for the ‘prise de mousse’.
The entrance to the cellars is at the centre of the newly renovated 14th century church. The gardens around the ruined cloisters of the former monastery is the perfect venue to sit and sip Crémant de Bordeaux. The 2020 Best of Wine Tourism award winner for Architecture and Landscapes is a must to include on any Bordeaux wine tour.
Their range includes white and rose, vintage and non-vintage including a 100% Semillon demi-sec which goes particularly well with the famous Macarons de Saint Emilion.
Château Rioublanc is a family property to the north of Libourne, on high, cool clay soils and certified organic since 2012. As well as red, still dry and sweet white wines they make four Crémants, white brut white demi-sec, rosé brut and a white Double Zéro, which has no added sugar and, more unusually, no added sulphur and is unfiltered.
Château de Lisennes is a 55ha property in the Entre deux Mers, close to Bordeaux city. Farmed sustainably with part of the vineyard certified organic, and more in process, their philosophy of sustainability includes their carbon footprint, with solar panels installed on the cellar roof. They produce a range of red, white and rosé wines on the cool limestone and clay soils and two Crémants, a white and a Rose. The white is a blend of Sémillon, Cabernet Franc and Muscadelle and the Rosé a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Bad boy is the tongue-in-cheek name Jean-Luc Thunevin uses for his Bordeaux wines, inspired by his reputation as a rogue Saint Emilion wine maker during the 90s garage wine movement. Despite Château Valandraud entering into the establishment, thanks to its 1st Grand Cru Classé status, he is still innovating and has added Bad Girl, a white and a rosé Crémant de Bordeaux, to the range. Both are made from wines from the Entre Deux Mers region, harvested on cool, late plots to get both acidity and complexity. The 70 % Sémillon, 20 % Cabernet Franc and 10% Muscadelle blend is aged on lees for 20 months under the tender loving care of Corinne Lateyron in nearby Montagne Saint Emilion.
Not all that sparkles is Crémant.
Crémant de Bordeaux has strict production criteria, and some producers prefer to play outside these rules.
Just outside Saint Emilion, on the banks of the Dordogne Dawn Jones Cooper produces a range of organic, uniquely white single varietal wines under the label ‘Nobody’s Perfect’. These include Muscadelle, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon & Chardonnay – yes Chardonnay! This puts her outside the AOC. Her wines are made under the Vins de France designation so the Sparkling Château de Monfaucon is sold as a Pétillant not Crémant.
Dawn does the traditional method secondary fermentation herself, leaving it on the lees in the bottle for 2 to 3 years. For the 2018 vintage she made two versions, a 100% sparkling Sauvignon Blanc with an 8g dosage (which she thinks is unique in Bordeaux) and more classic blend of Sauvignon blanc, Sémillon and Muscadelle with a 10g dosage. There’s only 2,000 bottles, to be released next 2 to 3 months, but it will be available in the UK.
Château de Seuil in the Graves also produces a sparkling wine from organic grapes, as are all their wines. They choose Pétillant as the designation for their ‘Perles du Seuil’, as the grapes are machine picked rather than by hand. 100 % Semillon with a dosage of 6g, it is a ‘méthode traditionelle’, with secondary fermentation in the bottle where it ages for a minimum of 9 months.
The Crémant from Bordeaux negociant house Calvet is easier to find in both the UK and the US. Alongside their Brut Blanc (Sémillon, Cabernet Franc blend) and Rosé (Cabernet Franc, Merlot blend) they have recently added an ‘Ice’ to the range. A 100% Chardonnay (so not Crémant de Bordeaux) it is made following the same traditional method and aged for 9 months, but it is a demi-sec, designed to be served as a summer aperitif poured over ice. This trend, called a ‘Piscine’ served in a large glass was started by Moet et Chandon with their Ice Impérial launched about 10 years ago. Sparkling purists look away now.
Look out.
For many years, Crémant de Bordeaux has been a well-kept local secret, but it is now gaining recognition further afield and popping up in export markets. Keep a look out, although slight more expensive abroad, the price in France averages between €5-15, a steal!
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