Revelatory Purity
"Loaded with class and elegance. This striking wine from Vouette et Sorbée is oozing with personality."
-Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media
Bertrand Gautherot and his Vouette et Sorbée Champagnes are some of the most provocative and captivating Champagnes we’ve come across.
At the urging of his friend, none other than Anselme Selosse, Gautherot stopped selling off his grapes, started bottling his own wines and, almost overnight, became a cult sensation. We've been fans since the moment the wines hit our shores.
 |
| via @crushwineco |
Over the years we've been shocked by how much Vouette et Sorbée's Fidèle has improved. Don't get us wrong, it's always been a good wine. But for the past 2 or 3 vintages, it's entered a new realm. The 2010 may be our favorite Fidèle to date.
Few Champagnes articulate such a nuanced and honest signature of site. The expression of mineral, salt and stone in these wines is revelatory, not to mention their deeply intense, saturating quality. They are thought-provoking, original.
Gautherot's heart is in the vineyards and that's where he focuses an insane amount of energy, restricting yields and following biodynamic practices. Anyone who has visited him has mentioned how beautifully the vineyards are maintained.
The 2010 vintage in Champagne is too varied to fit into a nice, one sentence summary. The Aube, particularly Pinot Noir in the Aube, is one of the vintage's biggest successes. The August rains were much, much less severe in the Aube than the Marne and Montagne de Reims further north.
This shouldn't lead you to believe that 2010 in the Aube was a walk in the park. The vintage placed huge demands on growers and only the most dedicated succeeded. Here's where Bertrand Gautherot's super-conscientious vineyard work really paid off. The wines are incredibly clear, finessed and complex. You see all of this in the 2010 Fidèle.
Fidèle is based entirely on Pinot Noir. As Peter Liem writes, Fidele "made entirely of pinot noir and almost exclusively from Kimmeridgian soils in Biaunes and Vouette." You really feel the mainly Kimmeridgian origins (the same soils in parts of Chablis) in the wine's detailed minerality. It's a supremely elegant version of the wine. Against the backdrop of minerality, there is Pinot fruit, floral notes and crunchy stone fruits.
Vouette et Sorbée are wines that cast Champagne in a radical new light. The 2010 Fidèle boldly shows just how original and compelling these wines are.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits