Champagne Serge Mathieu

We go to great lengths to harvest grapes at optimum ripeness. In the winery we try to obtain as much personnality and flavour from these grapes, which involves a light hand in vinification and careful thinking. « As the years go by, we tend to intervene less and less as our experience grows » says Michel Jacob. This necessitates awareness and precision. Our techniques are traditional, but each stage in the winemaking process aims at preserving the full fruit flavours by gentle handling adapted to each situation. We use little sulphur, natural precipitation for tartaric acid, very light filtering and dosage. This « light » touch is just what is required to prevent any wine from deviating and becoming unstable. Wine is a fragile living matter. We also use extra-long cellar ageing for our wines, which is extremely rare for a small producer and which allows us to maintain minimal dosage levels, thus preserving the purety of the wines‘ aromas

Manual harvest in 50 kg, free-draining boxes

Grapes carefully pressed, plot by plot, in a pneumatic press

No cold sedimentation

Fermentation under temperature control

Complete malolactic fermetation

Ageing of still wines in stainless-steel and enamel tanks

Minimal filtration

Bottling and ageing on lees for between three and five years

Moderate to low dosage (between 8.6 gr and 10.4 gr /l)

« Terroir » wines?

The word « terroir » is often abused. Everyone has their own interpretation of it, so we had better be explicit here! A « terroir » wine is one that expresses nuances that derive from its specific vineyard situation, including the local climate and the soil, thanks to grapes which bear their imprint and to a winemaker who knows how to handle them and blend the resulting wines.

« In Pinot Noir we trust »

It would appear that the Avirey vineyards show their best potential through the pinot noir variety. The wines have body, depth of flavours and well-integrated freshness. Over a 30 year period, Serge Mathieu has refined a style that places it amongst the best producers from the Aube region. This style obviously owes a lot to those who produce the wines, resulting in Champagnes which are crisp and clearly defined, showing great elegance in their natural flavours derived from the fruit.

Wines ready to drink

Ageing that surpasses that in practice with many of the great names in Champagne is one of the key factors in the quality of the finished wines. During their three to five years cellaring, Serge Mathieu Champagnes acquire natural polish and complexity that make them truly ready to drink. The optimum degree of maturity in the grapes, and this vital choice in extending the ageing process, mean that each cuvée requires minimal levels of dosage, allowing the fruit flavours to show to their best.