Firmly characterised as a ‘grower champagne’ , think of Vouette et Sorbée’s Fidèle as being more vinous (more wine-like) than a conventional Champagne. That doesn’t mean it’s not effervescent and refreshing, but there’s the palate weight of ripe Pinot Noir, with red fruited aromatics. There’s nutty, savoury complexity, and it finishes bone dry. 

Bertrand Gautherot took over his family estate in Champagne in 1993. He’d come from working in the world of luxury brands for the likes of Chanel, Dior and Girlan. From this experience he gained a view that luxury goods (like Champagne) are so because they’re made from the best ingredients with the best practices, not because they’re the best marketed. Applied to wine growing, he converted vineyards to biodynamics in 1998, and released his own single site wines for the first time in 2001. Having vineyards confined to a modest geographic area is unusual in Champagne, and it allows Bertrand to farm holistically, treating the estate like a single organism. 

Fidèle is a Blanc de Noirs fermented with natural yeast and bottled with no dosage. ‘Vouette’ and ‘Sorbée’ are not people, but actually 2 of the 6 single limestone predominant sites on this estate in the Côte de Bar.