Champagne Minière F&R
Hermonville, Champagne, France
Frédéric & Rodolphe Minière
To say that Frederic and Rodolphe Miniere are focused on making only the highest quality Champagne would be an understatement. With almost eight hectares of land in Hermonville, they are purposefully limiting their production to the best and oldest vines isolated from only two hectares. They are also choosing to barrel age their wines entirely in oak barrels and releasing vintage specific cuvees only after years of sur lie aging. On average, their Champagnes are spending six or more years in barrel. (They didn't release their first vintage till 2014!)
Frederic worked with Anselme Selosse for two harvests in the late 90s. It was then that Fred fell in love with barrel aged Champagne and saw the benefits of organic viticulture. At the time, he was in the middle of his oenology studies. This experience was formative for him and it convinced him to bottle Champagnes under his family name. This dream would not be realized until 2007 when his father retired and the two brothers were able to chart a new course for the domaine.
“If I hadn’t met Anselme I would not be making the wines I make today.”
— FREDERIC MINIÈRE
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Frederic and his brother, Rodolphe, are the fourth generation to lead their estate. The domaine was founded in 1919 by their great-grandfather but they never bottled Champagne under their own name. For generations, the Minières preferred to sell all of their fruit to larger houses.
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The Miniere brothers are faming almost 8 ha of vineyards located primarily in Hermonville. The upper hills are covered in a sandy-loam soil with limestone underneath while the lower areas are loam, clay, and sand. There is no chalk in Hermonville. The soil is very poor but it's a great soil for maturity, especially for old vines.
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Today, the brothers are purposefully limiting their production to the best and oldest vines isolated from only two hectares from their family’s eight hectares. All of the plots selected come entirely from Hermonville. The age of the parcels varies from 15 to 65 years, with an average age of 45 years. Farming is organic for the soil with grass growing naturally every other row and labor for the non-grass rows. If the year is very rainy, it's sometimes possible to use non-organic treatments.
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All of the wines in the cellar are produced in oak barrels with a focus on long sur latte aging. Barrels are of varied capacity, origin and age in order to reveal the diverse range of characteristics of their wines and the complexity of their blends. Immediately after the pressing process is terminated, the musts are placed in barrels to ferment. They are left in contact with their lees for six months. Malolactic fermentation is prevented in order to preserve the freshness of the wines throughout their long aging process. Once bottled the youngest wines age for 5 or 6 years before release and vintage wines for 8 to 10 years. Fred's goal is to have ten vintages aging in his cellar at once and release Champagnes that is ready to drink.
Wines
Influence
Influence is the flagship cuvee of the domaine. The varietal blend is 30% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier, and 15% Chardonnay. The final blend contains 15% of reserve wines. As is the case with all of their wines, it is aged in oak and the wine does not undergo malolactic fermentation. 30% of the barrels are less than 4 years with the rest being over 5 years old. The wine is aged for 7 years in bottle on its lees. Dosage is 5g/L.
Absolu Blanc de Blancs
Absolu is 100% Chardonnay from two plots, one planted in 1973 and an un-grafted vineyard planted in 1972. The blend contains 20% of reserve wines. It is aged in oak, 40% of which is less than 4 years with the rest being over 4 years old. The wine is aged for 6 years in bottle on its lees. Dosage is 6g/L.
Brut Zéro
The Minière brothers had been waiting a couple of vintages to make a Champagne with zero dosage and 2008 gave them the perfect conditions to unveil it. Since then, they have continued it when the vintage allows. The blend is around 30% Pinot Noir, 30% Pinot Meunier, and 25% Chardonnay with only 10-15% reserve wine. Both the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier come from some of the oldest plots of the domaine with the Pinot Noir being planted in 1975 and the Pinot Meunier in 1968. 30% of the blend is vinified in new barrels with the remainder put in barrels that are over four years old. The wine is aged for 7 years in bottle on its lees.
Influence Rosé
A rosé d'assemblage, still Pinot Noir is 7% of the blend. The varietal breakdown is 20% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier and 20% Chardonnay with 20% of reserve wines. 30% of the blend is vinified in barrels less than four years old with the remainder put in barrels that are over five years old. The wine is aged for 4 years in bottle on its lees and dosage is 8g/L.
Symbiose
2008 was the first vintage of Symbiose. It is 50/50 Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from two lieu dits. The wine has been in bottle on its lees for 10 years. It is named “Symbiose” because it is the result of a symbiotic relationship between two things: two grapes/two lieux dits.
The dosage is 2.5g/l.
Les Moineaux
A south-facing site with a mild slope north of the village, on the border to Cauroy-lès-Hermonville. Borders in the south to Voirmissa. The Minière family has 2 plots of Chardonnay in this lieu-dit, planted by their grandfather, one in 1963 (o.1 ha) and the other in 1972 (0.25 ha) on soils of silt and clay, both selection massale. 2014 is the first release of this single vineyard cuvee.
Blanc de Blancs - 100% Chardonnay
Vinification & elevage in Fûts sur lies 8mons. No Malo. Aged for 5 years . Disgorged Feb 2020. Zero Dosage
Les Voirmissa
A flat site just north of the village. Borders in the north to Les Moineaux. The Minière family plot was planted by their father in 1973 (0.45 ha) on silt and clay soils, half to pinot meunier and the other half to pinot noir, selection massale.
2014 is the first release of the single vineyard.
Blanc de Noirs - 50/50 Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
Vinification and Elevage in Fûts sur lies 8mons. No Malo.
Aged for 5 years . Disgorged June 2020 Dosage 2.25g/L