Champagne Fleury ‘Fleur de l’Europe’ Brut Nature NV
Location: France, Champagne, Côte des Bar
Winemaker: Jean-Sebastien, Morgane & Benoît Fleury
Grapes: 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay
Soil: Kimmeridgian limestone
Winemaking: Blending of 2015 (58%) and reserve wines (42%) Winemaking in thermoregulated tanks and oak barrels. Reserve wines aged in oak tuns. Full malolactic fermentation.
Disgorged: October 2020
Dosage: 0 g/L
‘Fleur de l’Europe’: The first ever biodynamic cuvée in Champagne! ‘L’Europe’, which witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall, inspired the name of this wine. The ethereal and floral Chardonnay brings a special elegance to this cuvée. Despite at first receiving a dosage, it has been zero-dosage for the last 10 years. A Brut Nature Champagne, expressive with exceptional finesse. A bright gold robe carries aromas of honey and acacia. The mouthfeel is ample and generous with a surprising freshness. This is a chiseled wine, mouthwateringly vibrant, with a touch of salinity.
From the producers: The Fleury estate was founded 1895 in Courteron in the heart of southern Champagne in the Côte des Bar. The domain lies nestled among the clay-limestone hillsides formed in the Kimmeridgian period by the first tributaries of the Seine. The Source of the River Seine begins 70 km upstream, towards Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye.
The family’s passion for viticulture has been fueled by the adventure of Biodynamic principals, giving a new meaning to the profession. To be respectful of the natural and living heritage of this terroir, where custodians of the land forever learn, in all humility, to perceive the balance and to unearth its mysteries.
Innovation has always played a key role in the Fleury family. Each generation has had to produce novel approaches during difficult times. Emile Fleury was audacious enough to graft the first Pinot Noir vines in the region after the devastating phylloxera invasion in the early 20th century.
When the economic crisis hit in 1929 his son Robert Fleury saved his small vine-growing business by venturing into champagne production. In doing so he became one of the first “grower-producers” of the southern Champagne region, now known as “creators of champagne growers”.
In 1970 Jean-Pierre Fleury took over and in 1989 he was the first to apply biodynamic practices to the vineyard; only partly at first and then entirely in 1992.
And not forgetting Morgane Fleury, an actress and sommelier who developed a new concept of an ecological wine and champagne bar in central Paris.
Jean-Sébastien is also at the heart of innovation at the domain, experimenting with grafting techniques in the vines, as well as reintroducing horses to work on certain plots. He has installed a “gallery of casks and barrels” and created the first sulphur-free wines of the domain.
Equally, Benoît is currently experimenting with massale selection, agroforestry as new ways of cultivating the vines in symbiosis with an adapting environment.
The love of the land is undeniably written in the Fleury family’s genes. It is not only expressed as an attachment to the roots and the land, but also as a conviction that they each play a modest but essential role in providing harmony and unity through their interaction with the environment.