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I recently had the great pleasure of visiting one of our favourite suppliers, Champagne Gardet & Ployez- Jacquemart and what a visit it was!
You may not recognise the names, but their quality certainly shows why they are such good value for money and should be ranked amongst the more famous and ubiquitous brands.
My visit in May started off with our arrival at the House of Ployez-Jacquemart based in Ludes and founded in 1930 by the husband-and-wife team of Marcel Ployez and Yvonne Jacquemart. Laurence (in the middle of the wine-making team pictured below), third generation of the family, perpetuates the founding values of the house. Now in conjunction with Christophe Prieux of Gardet (more about him later!) she continues to produce quality wines that as we say punch well above their price tag!
We were hosted at the beautiful guest house in Ludes which is also the home of the winery (if you fancy a visit, please do visit their website for details) This is a small winery that produces around 100,000 bottles per year- quality and not quantity is their focus. It is important to note that all the grapes used in their production come from Premier Cru vineyards in Ludes, based in the heart of the Montagne de Reims.
The range of Champagnes are something to behold and I have selected my favourite wines to share with you. Starting with the Flagship Extra Quality Brut, a blend of 66% red grapes, Pinot Noir & Meunier and 34% Chardonnay. Aged for a minimum of 4 years and with a low dosage of 5g/, this makes a great aperitif and introduction into the range. It has a lovely ripe nose of honey with beautiful length and finesse.
Moving onto the amazing Blanc de Noirs 2015 which is aged for even longer in the cellars – 6 years! The quality and breadth of this is stunning. For me the real fruit characteristics of the wine come through, showing not only elegance but an intensity and length that made it a joy to sample. A stunning food wine that matches with many fish dishes, and I certainly would try that, but I was very happy drinking it on its own - indeed maybe a bit too jolly considering how much I tried!
We then decided to go and enjoy ourselves with dinner in Reims . Christophe obviously knows the right places to eat at and we certainly were not disappointed with his choice of venue and to add to the evening I managed to partake of quite a few oysters – my go to with many Champagnes, which may be old hat but for me they are a marriage made In heaven.
The next morning (yes morning!) we sampled both the Rosé and Blanc de Blanc. These again did not disappoint. The rosé, a blend of 60% Pinot Noir & 40% Chardonnay, showed typical red fruits but with a subtlety that some other Rosés do not have – overused word I know but finesse shined though. The Blanc de Blanc – wow! Orange, peach, lemon all were prevalent in this and the fact that over 50% is aged in oak helped with the roundness and length on the finish.
In between tastings we managed to take a wander around Ludes - a lovely little place, couple of nice bars and eateries and plenty of other small champagne houses.
We then had the pleasure of a tour of Gardet with a lovely lunch! Based in the beautiful village of Chigny-Les-Roses, Gardet is a premium family-owned grower who have been making Champagne with passion and finesse since 1895. Christophe Prieux alongside his wife Nathalie and daughter Clemence (who we were delighted to welcome at House of Townend for work experience a few years ago), acquired Champagne Gardet in 2007 and have taken it from strength to strength, producing award winning wines that we are so very happy to supply to our customers
What always comes over to me when I visit family owned wineries such as Gardet is the passion, care and most importantly pride that flows naturally and Christophe, Nathalie and Clemence are no different! We had a lovely tour of the cellars and Christophe was rightly very proud to show us his new addition - a tunnel that they have built to connect a new property purchased over the road.
This is visually very stunning but as Christophe pointed out it’s not all fur coat! It serves to help increase the size of the cellars whilst maintaining the quality of Gardet.
Well onto the Champagnes – Gardet is a house that I have always been a fan of as it has always offered quality without breaking the bank. Again, I have chosen to share some of my personal favourites with you.
The “House” Champagne is Gardet Brut Tradition NV; this shows the style of Gardet to a T – 90% red grapes the wine is aged for at least 3 years and the freshness and vivacity of this has always been a wine that I recommend as a great aperitif or to partner canapes.
Now move up to Gardet Brut Reserve Premier Cru NV, made up of a third of each of the varietals and obviously as the name suggests only using grapes from Premier Cru Vineyards. Ageing for 6-8 years adds to the complexity of this tipple. A perfect serve with duck or goose.
Now when it comes to Rosé Champagne we all tend to have our famous favourites, but I do think that Gardet Brut Rosé NV is not out of place with those. Indeed like many of the range, it has won its fair share of awards. This is a ‘blended’ rose using 90% red and 10% white grapes- think summer, strawberries, raspberries, indeed to my palate a touch of raspberry ripple ice cream!
Finally, treat yourselves to a bottle of Gardet Blanc de Noir Premier Cru NV, 60% Pinot 40% Meunier, which is unmistakably a wine to savour. These Premier Cru grapes come from the Village of Hautvillers located near Epernay with fruit notes, it is powerful and complex – what a wine!
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