NV Piollot Pere & Fils Cuvée de Réserve Brut

WINEMAKER: Roland Piollot & Dominique Moreau
VARIETAL: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
REGION: Champagne, FR
VITICULTURE: Certified Organic/Biodynamic

Roland assiduously attends to his long mounds of organic compost (see photo below) that he prepares with care for application to his vineyard. The vineyard is being converted to biodynamic practices therefore no chemicals are used, no chemical fertilisers are used and no herbicides are used.

Working with his wife Dominique their compost recipe involves starting with the left overs from the press after harvest then adding manure in January, followed by a biodynamic preparation towards the end of winter. Everything in the compost comes from within 12 kilometres of Polisot, including straw and sawdust.

Roland explains that unlike chemical fertilisers, once applied, their home-made slowly-matured compost “brings what the vineyard needs but slowly”. It make more even growth, not a quick burst and they also like the assurance of knowing exactly what we are putting in the vineyards. He also thinks that the vines like the warmth that comes from the compost.

His vineyard is a special place with sweeping views across the valley in which his home village of Polisot nestles. Here ducks swim contentedly in the tranquil upper reaches of the Seine River and vegetable gardens line its banks. It is an idyllic location. The nearest major town is the ancient city of Troyes.

Dominique and Roland also etch the lot numbers of each wine on the bottom of the bottles. You will be able to see a number etched into the glass such as LR15D1117. The letter L stands for “lot”, the R stands for “Réserve”, 15 stands for 2015 which is the vintage of the wine and D stands for the date of disgorgement which in this example was “1117” which means that the wine was disgorged in November 2017.