Domaine Augustin Cuvee CCXCI Terre Blanc De Noirs 2018 in Case

Domaine Augustin Cuvee CCXCI Terre Blanc De Noirs 2018

A powerful, elegant sparkling wine with vegetal traits. Direct pressing, spontaneous fermentation in barrels, pièces and terracotta amphorae, and aging in the same containers for 11 months. Blending of base wines and bottling with addition of sugars and “lies” of base wines for second refermentation. Disgorgement after 32 months.

Domaine Augustin is a family Champagne house located in Avenay Val D’Or led by husband and wife Marc and Emmanuel Augustin from two winemaking families spanning nine total generations. In the early 20th century, Marc’s great-grandmother, Andrée La Fèvre, began making wine from her own grapes, when the totality of Champagne production came exclusively from the large Maisons, a revolutionary move that set the stage for the establishment of the rècoltant-manipulant concept. In the 1970s, when the use of synthetic chemicals sadly spread throughout the land, Jean Augustin, Marc’s father rejected the use of herbicides, fertilizers and pesticides in his own rows. Thus the winery adopted organic farming practices, and then embraced biodynamics starting in 2011, under the impetus of Marc and Emmanuele aware of the value of their heritage and convinced that they had to ensure balance and vitality to the soil and the plants The winery has 9 hectares of vineyards located in the communes of Avenay Val D’Or, premier cru of the Montagne de Reims and home of pinot noir, and Vertus, a famous area of the Cote des Blancs vocated for its chardonnay.

METHOD OF PRODUCTION

Domaine Augustin’s estate grapes, mostly pinot noir and chardonnay, are harvested by hand and brought to the winery where there are no steel tanks, preferring wooden, cement and amphora containers of different sizes and origins. No invasive technology or oenological additives are used in winemaking, and the use of sulfur dioxide is minimal if not completely absent. Fermentations are spontaneous, and the base wines rest on fine lees until the summer, when the process of refermentation in the bottle begins thanks to a frothing obtained through a starter consisting of biodynamic raw sugar and fine lees. The resting sur lies of all the cuvées ranges from three to five years and more. All Augustin Champagnes are vintage and Brut Nature, that is, unmetered and with a residual sugar content of less than 3 mg/l. In addition to the 4 main cuvées, there are two single-varietal Champagnes made without sulfur and one made from 100% pinot meunier from a very small plot.