March is Women’s History Month, and the French Winophiles group of wine and food writers are celebrating France’s Women in Wine! You can see the invitation post from our host Gwendolyn Alley of Wine Predator here.

The history of Women in Champagne has mostly been well documented, or more accurately, the history of widows who have taken over after a man in the family died has been well documented. Consider the renowned examples of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, Louise Pommery, or Lily Bollinger who is credited with my favorite quote about Champagne “I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.When I have company I consider it obligatory”.

I wanted to profile a smaller grower-producer crafting organically-farmed champagne.

Champagne Louise Brison

Champagne Louise Brison is located in the southern part of the Champagne production area in the Côte des Bar within the Aube region. The region is characterized by Jurassic slopes overlying Kimmeridgian limestone bedrock, and Pinot Noir is the predominant grape (see map below).

The landscape is quite different than the densely-planted Montagne de Reims, Côte des Blancs, and Vallée de la Marne to the North. In the Côte des Bar you’ll find vineyards are leisurely interspersed with forests, farms, and streams. It’s quite bucolic and beautiful.

Delphine Brulez is the winemaker and owner of Champagne Louise Brison, named after her grandmother Louise Brison who eked out a living in the early 20th century on a few acres of vines at a time when winemaking was not very lucrative. She lived through two World Wars and thanks to her tenacity, the ground work was laid for future generations. It’s not clear to me whether Madame Brison was a widow, or otherwise was obliged to take over the grape growing. The family has growing grapes for generations, but only began making Champagne in 1991.

Delphine has a master’s degree in enology. She studied in Dijon as their property is only ten kilometers from Burgundy, which is fitting because Brison has a more Burgundian approach to wine-making than the large Champagne houses to the North according to importer K&L Wine Merchants. For example, their wines are aged in used Burgundy barrels.

Delphine makes her champagnes from her family’s 15ha (~37 acres) of vines, planted 70% Pinot Noir, and 30% Chardonnay on calcareous clay bedrock of limestone marl soil. The vineyards are on a south-south-east exposure, at and average elevation of 280m (up to 320). Organic viticulture practices on all vineyards since 2012 (Certified organic in 2020). There are no chemicals or pesticides / insecticides applied to allow the natural biodiversity to flourish.

They produce a range of 3 low dosage (extra-brut) champagnes: a Chardonnay/ Pinot noir blend, a blanc de blanc, and a rosé champagne (made from 100% Pinot noir in rosé de saignée). All the champagnes are vintage and disgorged after a minimum of 5 years of ageing. All their wines are vinified and aged in oak barrels.

2014 Louise Brison Champagne Brut Millésimé

This wine is a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with 50% seeing malolactic fermentation. It’s labeled as Brut, but at 3g/L could be labeled as Extra-Brut. Aged on lees for 6 years.

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There is very useful information on the back label of this wine (See image above on upper right) . “RM-26720-01” highlighted in yellow tells you the wine is produced by a Récoltant Manipulant, a winemaker that makes wine exclusively from grapes they grow themselves (a.k.a. as Grower Champagne”) Also, highlighted in yellow below that is the disgorgement date, and the dosage of the wine.

Tasting Note:

Pale gold color with sourdough bread, green apple, dried red fruit citrus, caramel and Bay leaf with hints of hazelnut and chalk. On the palate it approaches full-bodied with zesty, mouth-watering acidity and a creamy mousse with green apple, citrus, Rainier cherry, lemon zest and subtle hazelnut flavors with an appealing bit of salinity. Definitely crafted in the more oxidative style, which I enjoy. 3g/L dosage|12.5% abv|SRP – $35

Given that less than 5% of total Champagne production is vintage, which typically commands prices well above $50-$60, this wine offers remarkable value at $35, especially given its extended aging on lees. And, if you appreciate or are looking to try a Champagne made in oxidative style, I highly recommend this bottle!

When I told the my wife we’d be having Champagne, I asked her what see wanted to eat with it. She went for a house favorite – Sushi. On the other hand I wanted to try something I hadn’t tried with Champagne before – Pizza. So we did both!

The pizza, from our favorite local pizzeria, was a “white” pizza topped with Ricotta Sauce, Fresh & Aged Mozzarella, Ricotta, Mushroom, Green Olive, and Calabrian Chili.

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As usual, we very much enjoyed the champagne with the sushi. Overall, I’d characterize the pairing with the pizza as “peaceful co-existence”, but that was mostly due to the spice of the Calabrian chiles. Certainly, the bubbles were a nice welcome counter-point to the richness of the cheeses and satisfying complement to the yeasty notes in the pizza dough, but if I had to do it over again, I’d choose a Rosé Champagne raised in stainless rather than oak with this pizza.

See below to see what my fellow Winophiles discovered about France’s Women in Wine!

• Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm is sipping Domaine de Marcoux Lirac La Lorentine to Celebrate Women’s History Month.
• Jeff of Food Wine Click! invites us to Celebrate French Women in Wine: Anne-Sophie Dubois
• Jane of Always Ravenous talks about Women Behind the Wine: Domaine Weinbach, Catherine Faller.
• Martin of ENOFYLZ Wine Blog is sharing Champagne Louise Brison: A Tradition of Women in Charge.
• Robin of Crushed Grape Chronicles opened Delphine Vesselle and Domaine Jean Vesselle Rosé de Saignée, Brut from Bouzy.
• Deanna of Wineivore discovered A Mathilde Chapoutier Rose for $4?
• Linda of My Full Wine Glass found Château Larrivet Haut-Brion: A place for women in traditional Bordeaux.
• Nicole of Somm’s Table shares Cotillon Rouge and Rilletes.
• Susannah of Avvinare introduces Arnelle Cruse, A Look at the Cru Bourgeois.
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla is sharing A Medieval French Peasant Dish and French Winemaker Sisters.
• Terri of Our Good Life writes Here’s to France’s Women in Wine and to Rebecca Rosenberg’s Book Champagne Widow.
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator paired Champalou Fille’s 2020 Vouvray with French Favorites.

Please join our Twitter chat at 8am Pacific on Sat. March 19. Just follow the #Winophiles hashtag. Hope to “see” you there!