The story of Frederic Savart was one that started out as being of footballing dreams - the young man who had come from a family of vignerons, was instead headed in the direction of show stopping goal scoring highlight reels and the lifting of grand trophies. Frederic had great potential as a professional footballer and had even signed a youth development contract with Stade de Reims as an attacking midfielder - yet that was not to be. He had fell in love with a woman who would later become his wife, and thus when a potential transfer was on the table for Frederic to not only move to another club, but to another city altogether, he had thus decided that he would instead work the family vines with his father, Daniel.

Frederic Savart - footballer turn rising star grower Champagne maker.

The Savart's own a relatively small 6 hectares of vines across the Premier Cru sites of Ecueil and Villers-aux-Noeuds in the Montagne de Reims, most of which is Pinot Noir with just a 2 hectares left for Chardonnay. The family had begin their first foray into winegrowing in 1947 under the hand of Rene Savart, Frederic's grandfather, who would later pass it down to Daniel who would significantly expand the family's vines. And thus Frederic would join in just 2005 - and already he's proven himself to be one of the most exciting grower Champagne producers today! His Champagnes are today featured in the highly exclusive menus of well-regarded restaurants from Arpège to noma, El Cellar de Can Roca and RyuGin; not too shabby for someone who might have initially thought of himself scoring goals instead!

Into the vineyards, we find that most of Savart's vines find themselves in the Ecueil commune, with just a small but no less prized parcel of massale selection plantings of Pinot fin d'Ecueil in Villiers-aux-Noeuds that was made by Frederic's father and grandfather, Daniel and Rene. As such much of Savart's Champagne cuvees are blends of fruit from the various plots that he farms. The soils in Ecueil can be characterised as being notably sandy, with more clay present as we head up mid-slope, with some interspersed areas of chalk; whereas Villiers-aux-Noeuds is however much more chalky. In his vineyards Frederic's primary objective is to keep his vines healthy, and thus focuses on creating and maintaining an environment within which the vines can prove themselves resistant to any potential faults that might occur. 

Frederic emphasises a philosophy of preserving and respecting the purest expression of nature and thus allows his vines to be shaped by the climate and terroir, with each vintage welcomed in being different from the next. He talks of how the goal of winemaking and ageing are not meant to shape the wines towards a sort of standardisation, but instead to showcase the uniqueness of that harvest and to serve as a reflection of the terroir created by Mother Nature. He thus sees the winemaker's involvement as secondary to what nature has created, and thus should be rightfully that of a custodian to bringing forth what has already been perfectly crafted.

He thus embodies this belief in the cellars as well, fermenting his wines in stainless steel tanks with the perspective of increasingly shifting towards the use of barriques that enable gentle oxygenation towards the wines, and after which he allows malolactic fermentation to take place spontaneously or not at all, completely left to nature's own devises, with no intervention whatsoever. 

For Frederic, there's not an end goal, but a process of allowing the wines to show themselves.

And so today we're going to try Frederic Savart's L'Ouverture, this is 100% Pinot Noir Blanc de Noirs from the Ecueil vineyards. It's made with part of the wine fermenting in neutral barriques, with the other half in steel tanks, this is said to balance complexity with liveliness and freshness. The wine then rests on the lees for at least 24 months, with the final dose just 3.5 g/l Extra Brut.

Let's go! 

Champagne Review: Champagne Frederic Savart L'Ouverture Premier Cru Extra Brut

Tasting Notes

Colour: Rose Gold

Aroma: Great freshness, it's buttery and rich, with wafts of gentle yet raw yeastiness of dough and brie cheese rinds as it opens up, along with a side of crushed walnuts. This leads on to lingonberry cordials, red cherry jams, as well as a softer scent of blackberries and blackcurrants. Such freshness that's held up by a good density and richness, it is concentrated yet lifted, characterised by this rawness and yeastiness alongside servings of freshly harvested berries that all envelopes a core of berry cordials.

Taste: The richness and fruit cordials carries over to the palate, with more on blackcurrant and blackberry cordials, some dark cherries and plums as well. It's still really buttery yet incredibly firm and sturdy at the same time. Gentle carbonation with such a fortified structure. Some savouriness of grilled meats appear in the mid-palate. It's got great concentration without being heavy. Also really cohesive, holding its structure really well. It's gently sweet that's met with a more prominent savouriness, with even some musky tones of these dark fruits.

Finish: More spiced here, of cloves and pepper, the savouriness persists. The light yeastiness and nuttiness makes a reappearance, before it's back to the blackberry, although here it's more on fruit leather. It's a clean finish with lingering aromatics of cranberries, lingonberries and cherries.

My Thoughts

This was an incredibly well-executed Blanc de Noirs - it's got so much concentration and at the same time balances those darker fruits with a lifted brightness and lightness of its body.

And yet what stands out as most impressive to me is how well-structured it is - it feels fuller more denser yet isn't heavy and is contained within this bold and sturdy frame of a body. There's a whole lot of contrasts here to be appreciated that gives it so much dimensional complexity. On the nose, I also love how raw and fresh it noses, balanced out by the richness of those darker fruits. The palate brings on a side of savouriness that brings something new to the repertoire, and the finish is just incredibly satisfying, clean yet rich and with such concentrated and bold yet subtle fruits. Remarkably this is all achieved - nay, its all achieved because of - it being Extra Brut, and hence there's not an ounce of confectionary sweetness here.

I find this so remarkably tasty - great value as well at around US$80 - such a masterwork in evoking such a fulfilling experience in tasting it. It's almost like watching Disney's Fantasia, it's almost theatrical in how it evolves and presents itself at every turn - vibrant yet full of contrasts. There's so much to be appreciated here. Especially for those who might find classic Blanc de Blancs or Chardonnay Champagnes too high toned or bright - this would do the trick with all those lingonberries, dark cherries, plums, blackberries and more. Absolutely fantastic!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot