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Alt Rock Champagne: Vouette & Sorbée
August 12, 2024Bertrand Gautherot's Vouette & Sorbée epitomes Aube Champagne's avant-garde. Since planting his vines in 1986 and bottling his first champagne in 2001, he has stood as the shepherd for this southern zone's revival. Certified biodynamic in 1998, his 5-hectare estate covers three vineyards of the same soils commonly found in Chablis to the south: Kimmeridgian and Portlandian.
In the small village of Buxières-sur-Arce from this most southern zone of Champagne, a little more warmth and sunshine makes these non-dosage wines anything but austere. They are incredibly charming and enveloping upon release and hard to resist opening. However, some of my most memorable experiences with champagnes have come at the hands of aged Vouette & Sorbée. There is nothing to compare them to in the Aube, Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, or the Côte de Blancs.
Many have dubbed the 100% Chardonnay Blanc d'Argile "baby Selosse," and I can see why with its ripe and complex waxy yellow fruits with slight oxidative notes that are countered by intense salinity. At the opposite end of the cellar, you'd find the 100% Pinot Noir Fidele, which carries red berry fruits with supreme underlying mineral tension. The micro production finalés are the amphora-raised Textures (100% Pinot Blanc), Sobre (100% Chardonnay), and Extrait (100% Pinot Noir). All wines are produced in very small quantities with low sulfur additions at bottling.
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