FRANCE

Founded in 1812, Laurent-Perrier is recognised as one of the finest family owned Champagne Houses, renowned for its innovation and passion. The Nonancourt family’s independent spirit is the driving force behind the ‘New World Style’ of winemaking, creating a diverse, unique and highly sought-after range of Champagnes. Combined with a clear determination to observe established French traditions – respect for terroir, dedication to quality, strong and lasting relationships – such a vision will carry the success of this House into the future.

Jean-Baptiste Bachevillier, the eighth-generation winemaker, owns the family vineyards at Mont Joly, achieving remarkable success before turning 30. Together with his international experience, JB combines the best of Beaujolais and Burgundian winemaking to create wines that reflect the unique terroir. The winemaking heritage of the Bachevillier family dates back to 1779. Mont Joly’s cellar offers ideal conditions for aging wine with natural temperature control. Situated at 350 meters above sea level, the estate lies between Beaujolais’ oldest granite and marlaceous lime.

JB’s aim is to produce the finest “terroir” wine in Beaujolais. Hand-harvested grapes, minimal additives, and sulphuring preserve the natural expression of the grapes. JB is the first to own the vineyard since 1873, implementing an agroforestry system to improve soil health, biodiversity, and erosion control while providing habitats for wildlife. This system also captures carbon from the atmosphere, mitigating climate change effects.

JB carries on his family’s winemaking legacy at Mont Joly, creating wines that truly showcase the terroir. With a commitment to sustainability, his artisanal approach and innovative practices position him as a rising star in the world of Beaujolais wines.

This is surely one of the most exciting new domaines to have emerged in Chablis in the past decade. New in that they are now four vintages old, though the family of Romain and Damien Bouchard has been in Chablis for generations. Following the sale of their father Pascal’s négociant business in 2015, they took hold of the 29 hectares of vineyard that their mother’s family had owned and in a move to establish a Domaine, bought a property in the heart of the town of Chablis named ‘L‘Enclos’. This property was originally a building used by the monks of Pontigny to house their vineyard workers centuries ago.

Not only have they transformed the old house into a beautiful domaine, they have also built a vinification cellar five metres underground. Inspired by traditional vinification, it appears in stark contrast to the historic house above; modern, spotlessly clean and comprised primarily of small, stainless-steel tanks. The small tanks ensure they can vinify the various parcels they have in their vineyards separately. It is in the vineyard that Romain and Damien make the difference. Unusually in Chablis, they don‘t chaptalizes and work with very low yields in order to ensure full ripeness in the grapes. All of the wines from Domaine de L’Enclos are organically certified from the 2018 vintage (with their Premier Cru ‘Beauroy’ certified from the 2019 vintage).

The Vocoret family is one of the oldest families in Chablis, with all generations of the family having been born in the heart of the old village of Chablis. Founded by Edouard Vocoret in 1870, Domaine Vocoret et Fils, a family business for four generations, has always strived to perpetuate and develop the vineyard with, as the primary objective, respect for the terroir and constant improvement. Wine making and production has remained traditional with the use of large wooden foudres during ageing, while bottling is carried out exclusively at the property. 

“This is indeed a classy estate.” – Clive Coates M,  The Wines of Burgundy

French-born winemaker Emmanuelle (Emma) Bekkers is a wine obsessive! A native of Toulon on the Mediterranean, she studied and learned her craft in France, working in well-known regions, including four vintages in Burgundy at Meursault’s Domaine Jacques Prieur and Mercurey’s Antonin Rodet and five vintages with Bordeaux’s Bouey et Fils.

Emma travelled to Australia in the 1990’s for a change of scenery. In a historic McLaren Vale winery, she met her future husband Toby, a viticulturist, and eventually they established their own label, Bekkers.

Since 2012 and while firmly settled in McLaren Vale, Emma, keeping her French roots planted has spent each vintage in Chablis and it is here, under the family name that she creates her secret French project – two brilliant examples from the region.

Henri Prudhon was born in Saint-Aubin in 1921 and is the origin of the estate. The son of a winegrower, he married in 1945 and from the wine-producing heritage that each spouse inherited from previous generations, The estate of Henri Prudhon was born.

Their second child Gérard, born in 1949, was fascinated by this wonderful craft and came back to work with his parents. In those days, the estate’s harvest was mostly sold as wine to the region’s merchants. In the early 1980’s, Gérard was part of a movement of young winemakers well aware of the quality and potential of Saint-Aubin and began to develop and market bottlings under Domaine Henri Prudhon.

The operation grew further towards wine production with the acquisition of new plots in Saint-Aubin, followed by Chassagne Montrachet and Puligny Montrachet, more and more of the production was sold in bottles by the estate.

Nowadays, with vineyard holdings of around 14.5 hectares, the domain is managed by Gérard’s two sons, Vincent and Philippe, who respectively hold degrees in wine marketing and oenology. They continue the work the previous generations began, by bottling new appellations, exploring new markets and developing the domaine while remaining true to the core of quality production and superb value.

From the higher and cooler foothills of the Provence Alps, Artea bursts with aromatics well beyond those offered in the more supple wines further to the south. A pretty and lifted nose of fresh raspberries, wild strawberry and hints of aniseed spice. Lively and bursting with fruit, this is delicious with a fresh finish.

Peyrol is an exemplary example of wines from the area; pretty, pale pink with brilliant highlights. The nose lifts with fresh citrus fruit, crushed red berries and a hint of dried orange peel. Beautifully textural, a great food-friendly style and jumping with those fresh berry and citrus characters.