A visit to Champagne Delavenne Père & Fils

“It is essential for us to respect what nature has to offer, which enables us to produce high quality grapes.” Champagne Delavenne Père & Fils

I was pleased to spend a lazy afternoon with Jean-Christophe Delavenne who is the latest wine-maker and fourth generation of the family Delavenne that have been making Champagne since 1884. This grower Champagne house is located in the well respected village of Bouzy and owns 9.5 hectares of vineyards producing approximately 65 – 70,000 bottles annually.

Although the weather was somewhat against us on the day I visited I was pleased to tour some of Jean-Christophe’s vineyards and admire the fantastic views that greet him each and every day he works within the vines along with a tour of their newly renovated premises in Bouzy and their cellars.

What is very apparent when you take a visit around Champagne Delavenne Père & Fils is how not only clean every appears to be, but also attention to tidiness and procedures which were most apparent within the winery and cellars. Detail is obviously important to Jean-Christopher from how items such as the wine press is stored to positioning of piping and the wines grouped. Now this is not a case of OCD which I am very familiar with, it is more so a case of his character and the working standards he likes to adhere to in order to produce his award winning wines. None of the wines are put through malolactic fermentation so to maintain the exceptionally bright, fresh and clean, knife-edge acidity.  All cuvees are aged a minimum of three years in bottle and are grand cru.

Jean-Christopher added “I’ve 22 years in wine making experience now at my Champagne house and I am very lucky that I share the same nose and palate to that of my father so all of the experience he has handed down to me has been much easier to appreciate and I can continue the exact family trend and character of Champagne Delavenne Père & Fils.”

So, what would be your desert island Champagne from you range which you’d like to take with you?

“If I had to choose to be alone on a desert island then I would take with me my Amour de Louise as it is to celebrate the birth of my daughter Louise, but also because this wine was ten years in the making so it means most to me.”