Christian Bourmault

With their family history dating back six generations to 1870 in winemaking it wasn’t until 1998 that Christian Bourmault was formed.

The house sits on the west corner of the town of Avize with it’s Clos sitting dutifully on the hill behind, facing east. They have 4 hectares of Chardonnay in Avize and Cuis, and 2.5 hectares of Pinot Noir and Meunier, in Mareuil le Port and Leuvrigny.

There is a heavy use of oak in all of their cuvees exluding the Hermance Brut. The wines sing more Cuis than Avize which works surprisingly well with the oak as it balances the minerality, especially the Lettre a Terre Extra Brut.

Their Clos, a tiny 0.8 hectares, with it’s closer than normal vines (less than one metre), creates a surprisingly creamy wine. No malolactic, undergoing batonnage and a full eight months in oak, it creates wonderful notes of dried fruits with fudge and white chocolate. Their first vintage, 2004, not labelled, is looking fascinating. I can’t wait for a more powerful year like 2008.