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Cedric Bouchard
www.champagne-rosesdejeanne.com/RDJ3.html
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Cédric Bouchard, photo taken from madwine.blogspot.com
Cédric Bouchard, photo taken from madwine.blogspot.com
Country of Origin: France
Location: Aube Valley
People: Cédric Bouchard, Winemaker & Owner


From our friends at Polaner Selections:
"Cédric Bouchard is one of the fastest rising stars in the firmament of Champagne. Having only started his own label, Roses de Jeanne and begun producing his own wines in 2000, he is very quickly garnering a reputation as Champagne's most talented new wine producer, and was just awarded the title as Champagne's finest winemaker for the year 2008 by the Gault Millau. Monsieur Bouchard's philosophy borders on the revolutionary in Champagne, as he insists on bottling single vineyard, single varietal (Pinot Noir or Chardonnay), and single vintage cuveés. Rather than blending different sources to make a single cuvée. This is a highly unique concept in Champagne, where so many of the Grandes Marques have made their reputations for many centuries on the high art created in blending various wines and various vintages to make a consistently excellent bottle of bubbly year in and year out. However, blending is anathema to Cédric Bouchard, who seeks to create individual wines of great character each year from his single vineyard bottlings. Each wine is made only from juice from the first pressing, fermented only with indigenous yeast and handled meticulously in the cellar to guarantee the finest wines possible.

Monsieur Bouchard began his career in 2000 by taking a portion of his family's vineyards to begin working on his own, and started out with only 1.37 hectares of vines in the village of Celles-sur-Ource in the Côte des Bar region of Champagne. His approach in the vineyards and in the cellars seeks to maximize quality every step along the way, and consequently Monsieur Bouchard practices dramatically restricting yields in the vineyard (which can often be rather generous in the Champagne region), and which are farmed organically and picked at the optimum moment. There are three distinct bottlings from Monsieur Bouchard's own vineyards, which are all bottled under his Roses de Jeanne label, These include a Blanc de Noirs bottling from the nine-tenths of a hectare vineyard of Les Ursules made from one hundred percent pinot noir, and which produces annually less than three hundred cases per year; a Rosé made from the tiny (.07 hectare) Le Creux d'Enfer vineyard, which is made by the "saignée" method of crushing the pinot noir and running off the juice after several hours of skin contact to produce the classic rosé color (rather than adding a bit of still red wine), and which only three hundred to five hundred bottles are produced each year; and a Blanc de Blancs bottling from the vineyard of Le Haute-Lemblée, which only produces five hundred to eight hundred bottles per year, and which Monsieur Bouchard has not yet released.

Cédric Bouchard has augmented his tiny initial holdings by now working 1.47 hectares of vines owned by his father as well, which he farms with the same meticulous care as his own parcels. From these he has introduced a new Blanc de Noirs cuvée, which hails from the Val Vilaine vineyard and which he sells under the Champagne Inflorescence label, rather than labeled as Roses de Jeanne. Again, like the wines from his own vineyard parcels, the wine is made entirely from one variety, in this case pinot noir. All of Monsieur Bouchard's wines are characterized by uniquely soil-driven personalities, with the underlying terroir of each parcel jumping from the glass with a purity of expression that is extremely rare in Champagne. Bouchard believes in a long, slow and cool second fermentation which creates smaller, finer bubbles, and helps to enhance the vinosity of the underlying wine. The wines are produced with very, very low, or no dosage, depending on the vintage, with the goal of allowing the unique terroir of each wine to take center stage. These are brilliant wines made from a young, perfectionist vigneron who is likely to completely revolutionize the landscape of Champagne before he writes the last chapter on his career. The wines are available in miniscule quantities, so it is highly, highly recommended to snap them up immediately when they become available. We cannot recommend these magical wines highly enough."

One serving note: While you can enjoy Bouchard's Champagnes like other Champagnes, he recommends gently decanting them and serving them in regular wine glasses instead of flutes.

"Readers seeking to discover the finest in Champagne owe it to themselves to check out the wines of Cedric Bouchard. Minuscule yields, organically farmed old-vine parcels, a non-interventionalist approach in the winery and cellar and Bouchard’s inspired vision elevate these single-vintage, lieu-dit wines to the summit of Champagne. The wines are bottled unfined, unfiltered and with no dosage, leaving only the indelible stamp of vintage, vineyard and grape variety as interpreted by this immensely gifted vigneron. For what it is worth, these are some of the most treasured bottles I own." - Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate 12/2010

Media Links
The New York Times Dining & Wine: Champagne's Servants Join the Masters
SFGate: Champagne's Aube region gets a moment to sparkle
Items
Cedric Bouchard 2003 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'La Parcelle' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2004 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'La Parcelle' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2005 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'La Parcelle' Net Price — —
Cedric Bouchard 2009 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'Val Vilaine' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2010 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'Val Vilaine' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne 'La Bolorée' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne 'Le Haute Lemblé' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs 'Les Ursules' Net Price Reviews —
Cedric Bouchard 2009 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs 'Les Ursules' Net Price Reviews —
Reviews
Cedric Bouchard 2003 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'La Parcelle'
Rating: 2 Stars

This is the last edition of La Parcelle that was made by the previous owner of the C»te de Bechalin vineyard, as Bouchard began making the wines himself in the 2004 vintage. Disgorged in April of 2010, it's an excellent example of a successful 2003, showing a body and richness that suggests the elevated ripeness of the vintage without ever losing focus or poise. Its flavors of apricot and strawberry maintain an uncommon clarity and vigor, accented by hints of aniseed, tobacco, quince and citrus peel, and the contrast between the creamy texture and tense acidity makes it feel lively and kinetic

- Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide.net (3/1/2011)

Cedric Bouchard 2004 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'La Parcelle'
Rating: 95

The NV (2004) Blanc de Noirs Inflorescence La Parcelle is a huge, powerful wine bursting with red berries, spices, flowers and licorice. All of the elements come together gracefully in a dramatic, large-scaled wine of incomparable class and elegance as layers of fruit float across the palate. La Parcelle emerges from a parcel of 35 year-old Pinot vines in Cote de Bechalin, a lieu-dit in Bouchard’s hometown of Celles-sur-Ource. This is the first vintage of La Parcelle that Bouchard made from start to finish. Prior releases had been produced by the previous owner of the vineyard. If there is such a thing as a value wine in the lineup, this is it. Disgorged April 2011. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2016.

- The Wine Advocate (11/1/2011)

Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne 'La Bolorée'
Rating: 94

The NV (2006) Blanc de Blancs Roses de Jeanne La Boloree is another exceptional wine that is going to require quite a bit of cellaring. While the La Haut-Lamblee is typically a wine of precision, the Boloree is all about expressing the power held within these old Pinot Blanc vines planted on limestone-rich soils. This sweeping, dramatic wine possesses dazzling textural richness and fabulous overall balance. Clean, minerally notes frame the long, dramatic finish. Disgorged April, 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026.

- The Wine Advocate (12/1/2010)

Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne 'Le Haute Lemblé'
Rating: 95+

The NV (2006) Blanc de Blancs Roses de Jeanne La Haute-Lamblee, from another of the lieu-dits in Celles, is a massive, towering wine endowed with superb purity, depth and richness. Smoke, ash, minerals and varietal Chardonnay fruit come together in a powerful display of sheer class. The wine gains precision and focus on the palate, showing off a nuanced, chiseled personality that is hard to capture with words. The 2006 is quite a bit more primary than the 2004 was at this stage, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it challenge that wine in a few years. Readers should do their best to keep their hands off this majestic Champagne for at least a few years. Disgorged April, 2010. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026.

- The Wine Advocate (12/1/2010)

Cedric Bouchard 2008 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs 'Les Ursules'
Rating: 3 Stars

Eight months after disgorgement, this is still painfully youthful, its succulent, concentrated fruit flavors feeling tensely coiled. It's unusually fine in texture even for this cuv_e, showing a vivid detail and precision, and both acidity and minerality combine to give this a gripping focus. The flavors turn increasingly darker as this opens, picking up notes of blackberry and cassis that stain the palate with their vibrant, energetic intensity, and they persist with long, regal length and a lovely sense of subtlety and poise. This is a rich, highly structured version of Les Ursules that will need much more time to develop than previous editions did at the same stage, but it promises to be terrific

- Peter Liem's ChampagneGuide.net (3/1/2011)

Cedric Bouchard 2009 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'Val Vilaine'
Rating: 93+

The NV (2009) Blanc de Noirs Inflorescence Val Vilaine possesses breathtaking textural elegance and fabulous balance. Green apples, pears, spices, ash and flowers are some of the nuances that flow from this seductive Champagne. In many years Val Vilaine can be piercing in its youth, but in 2009 the warmth of the year has given the wine an extra level of richness that is very welcome. Val Vilaine is made from 35 year-old Pinot Noir vines in the Cote de Val Vilaine lieu-dit. Disgorged April 2011. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2017. -Antonio Galloni Cedric Bouchard remains at the forefront of innovation in Champagne. Yields are minuscule, even by the most exacting definition. The wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts and are bottled unfined and unfiltered with no dosage. Bouchard is adamant that he wants to stay at a size where he alone can do all of the work, so readers should not expect production to increase in a meaningful way, at least not any time soon. There is a new Champagne in the works, though, a 100% Pinot Noir from La Proele, a tiny parcel of just 0.025 hectares (15 rows) planted with 10 different Pinot rootstocks. This is the same parcel Bouchard had used for his Coteaux Champenois Pinots, a project he has since abandoned, as he wasn't happy with the quality of the wines. The 2007 and 2008 Coteaux Champenois Chardonnays are still in the cellar, but here, too, it appears the still-wine experiment was short-lived. I am not sure anyone will mind too much given the quality of Bouchard's Champagnes. Bouchard plans to phase out the Infloresence brand by 2013/2014, once the ownership of the respective vineyards passes into his direct ownership. At that point, all of the wines will be sold under the Roses de Jeanne brand. Unfortunately the already tiny production is down by as much as 50% for the 2007 La Boloree, Haute-Lemblee and Creux d'Enfer because of hail damage, so the wines will be harder to find than usual. Furthermore, I was not able to taste the 2009 Les Ursules, but will report on that wine as soon as I can. Incidentally, 2010 is the last year Les Ursules will be released as a non-vintage wine. These remain some of the most spectacular wines being made anywhere in the world, and are well worth the effort of finding them. Frankly, I can't think of too many wines I would rather drink

- The Wine Advocate (11/1/2011)

Cedric Bouchard 2009 Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Noirs 'Les Ursules'
Rating: (90-93)

The 2009 Roses de Jeanne Coteaux Champenois Les Ursules (Pinot Noir) (Blanc) is one of the most fascinating wines I have ever tasted from Champagne. The hot vintage seems to have favored Pinot over Chardonnay. Mineral-laced red berries, mint and flowers come together in this beautiful, mid-weight wine.

- The Wine Advocate (7/1/2010)

Cedric Bouchard 2010 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'Val Vilaine'
Rating: 92

Light gold. Mineral-laced aromas of redcurrant, pear, jasmine and anise, with a spice and toasted nut accents. Sappy and palate-coating with excellent clarity and back end thrust. Closes with strong grip and length, leaving pear and herb notes behind.

- International Wine Cellar (12/15/2012)

Cedric Bouchard 2010 Inflorescence Blanc de Noirs 'Val Vilaine'
Rating: 93

The NV (2010) Blanc de Noirs Inflorescence Cote de Val Vilaine is fabulous. The breath and richness of Pinot Noir meets the tension of the year in this vibrant, beautifully articulated Champagne. Sweet red berries, crushed rocks, flowers and mint all come alive in the glass. The 2010 is quite a bit more taut than the 2009, but at the same time much more accessible than I expected. A weightless, crystalline finish rounds things out in style. This is a great showing from Cedric Bouchard. Disgorged April 2012. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2018.

Cedric Bouchard remains one of the most fascinating exponents in Champagne. A visit to this tiny domaine in sleepy Celles-sur-Ource is a must for those who want to see some of the most immaculate vineyards in Champagne first-hand. As always, the Bouchard’s approach focuses on single-vintage, single-variety and single parcel wines.

- The Wine Advocate (11/1/2012)