About this WINE
Champagne Matthieu Godmé-Guillaume
You find Matthieu Godmé's cave tucked high up in the northeastern corner of the Montagne de Reims. This family estate, started by Matthieu's great-grandparents, is nestled between the two great Grand Cru villages of Verzy and Verzenay and the neighbouring Premier Cru village of Villers-Marmery.
We are excited to be working on young Matthieu’s inaugural solo release. Six years ago, he bought vineyards from his father’s business so that he could farm and produce wines in his own artisanal way.
Matthieu's major focus is soil health, which enables his vineyards to be a utopia of life. Neat yet natural rows of vines are surrounded by wildflowers, long grasses, and the buzzing of birds and mini beasts. He farms with forward-thinking sustainability; you feel this care in the quality of his fruit and wines.
Fermentations are in steel and cement, and he uses carefully selected oak (often selecting the trees himself) in the cellar to vinify before secondary fermentation. Nothing, however, is done to mask the intensity of energy from his vineyards. The wines are detailed, gourmand, and charged with energy, but they also offer pure drinkability.
Brut Champagne
Brut denotes a dry style of Champagne (less than 15 grams per litre). Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend from different years. The non-vintage blend is always based predominately on wines made from the current harvest, enriched with aged wines (their proportion and age varies by brand) from earlier harvests, which impart an additional level of complexity to the end wine. Champagnes from a single vintage are labelled with the year reference and with the description Millésimé.
Non-vintage Champagnes can improve with short-term ageing (typically two to three years), while vintages can develop over much longer periods (five to 30 years). The most exquisite and often top-priced expression of a house’s style is referred to as Prestige Cuvée. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill.
Recommended Producers : Krug, Billecart Salmon, Pol Roger, Bollinger, Salon, Gosset, Pierre Péters, Ruinart
Champagne blend
Which grapes are included in the blend, and their proportion, is one of the key factors determining the style of most Champagnes. Three grapes are used - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier.
26% of vineyards in Champagne are planted with Chardonnay and it performs best on the Côtes des Blancs and on the chalk slopes south of Epernay. It is relatively simple to grow, although it buds early and thus is susceptible to spring frosts. It produces lighter, fresher wines than those from Burgundy and gives finesse, fruit and elegance to the final blend. It is the sole grape in Blancs de Blancs, which are some of the richest long-lived Champagnes produced.
Pinot Noir accounts for nearly 40% of the plantings in Champagne and lies at the heart of most blends - it gives Champagne its body, structure, strength and grip. It is planted across Champagne and particularly so in the southern Aube district.
The final component is Pinot Meunier and this constitutes nearly 35% of the plantings. Its durability and resistance to spring frosts make the Marne Valley, a notorious frost pocket, its natural home. It ripens well in poor years and produces a soft, fruity style of wine that is ideal for blending with the more assertive flavours of Pinot Noir. Producers allege that Pinot Meunier lacks ageing potential, but this does not deter Krug from including around 15% of it in their final blends.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
This is Matthieu’s calling card, made from a selection of his vineyards across Verzenay, Verzy and Villers-Marmery. A complex wine, this was based on the vibrant 2021 harvest, with 45% reserve wine added to bring depth and spice. This cuvée is a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and was vinified in oak before spending a short 15 months on lees, retaining fruit and vineyard character. Its nose is expansive, with earthy layers and citrus lift, while the palate is fine: compact, with notes of red apple, stone fruit and a firm mineral grip.
Drink 2024 - 2034
Davy Żyw, Senior Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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