The large houses, or Grande Marques (e.g. Veuve Clicquot, Perrier-Jouët, Moët et Chandon), use grapes purchased from all over the region, Bjornsen explains, “and in some cases, it’s actually co-op champagne”—meaning volume-market wine made by a huge cooperative that’s finished and labeled by a luxury brand. Grower champagnes are different; before they work their magic in the cellar, grower families are involved in every aspect of viticulture, from care of the soil to pruning of the vines to harvesting at ideal ripeness. In sharp contrast, large houses trade terroir for tonnage, paying legions of growers for fruit brought to loading docks and dumped into vats for crushing. In fact, nearly half of Champagne’s 300 million bottles produced each year are made by just 10 large firms, while grower champagnes are restricted by law from using a single cluster not ripened in their own vineyards. “The entire annual yield of Roanoke Valley Wine Company’s champagnes added together amounts to less wine than Veuve Clicquot bottles of their Orange Label cuvée in 14 days,” says Bjornsen.
Beyond price, how do you discern quality? According to Vincent Gasnier, a wine consultant and author who became the youngest Master Sommelier ever when he earned his MS in 1997 at age 22, “A sparkling wine should be clean, subtle, vinous and refreshing.” The telltale mark: “Small bubbles, constant from the bottom of the glass to the surface, spreading out to form a circle at the top.” On the tongue, he says, they should feel “creamy and subtle, not like Coca-Cola.” Then comes the finish: “The length should last more than 6-8 seconds; if it disappears, it’s lesser quality.”
One sip from Bjornsen’s portfolio, however, and you’ll discover that the antidote for a short finish is wine that indeed grows on you, especially when married to the right menu. Fortunately, after a few glasses of grower Champagne, prying recipes from the culinary duo of Huntjens and Huntjens was a reasonable task.
Bjornsen: "We Got Lucky"
Virginia Living asked Bjornsen a few questions about his champagne:
How did RVWC choose these growers?
Months of research, e-mails and translation, and then two trips to France in the dead of winter to taste wines and meet producers. In all honesty, we got lucky … at the start, we were wondering if there’s anything worth buying. By the end, the chore was figuring out what not to buy.
Virginia’s locavores have taken full advantage of the surge in neighbor-grown everything from veggies to Viognier. How does grower champagne fit into an epicure’s diet?
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