PRESS REVIEW

LE VIN DES COPAINS D’ABORD ! By JEAN-PIERRE PERRIN Photos LIONEL CHARRIER

A wealthy former lawyer and art dealer, Alexandre Cornot dropped everything in 2007 to create his own Champagne House.

T

he world of champagne is certainly the last place you would expect to find an adventurer. That is to say, someone defiant, who would place everything on one idea and throw the dice in a game where it had, for a long time now, seemed that all bets had been placed. Someone who would cast aside comfortable habits after feeling what could be called a call. And rather than talking about his Bruts, Rosés and Blancs de Blancs, Alexandre Cornot prefers to first evoke the memory of his grandparents, who had also answered a call. Theirs was even more daring, and more insane at a much more tragic time, which was to leave “the family routine” to join De Gaulle’s Free French Forces in London, getting them both sentenced to death by the Germans and the Vichy Regime. The comparison is doubtless misplaced, but at a time when the values of resistance are shamelessly protested and debased by so many artists, intellectuals and politicians, it does make you wonder if his forebears’ “spirit of adventure” has not been reincarnated in this creator of champagne.

bottles in 2015. It has enjoyed an astonishingly rapid success, and broken through to foreign markets: Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Denmark and Britain. Even the Élysée Palace is a regular customer for the Rosé and has already ordered about 1,000 bottles sometimes even served during the State dinners...

He himself – the son of an officer, born somewhat by accident in Reims (Marne) where his father was garrisoned, into a family made up of both artists and military men – simply regards it as something he received in legacy: “It’s the family crucible that shapes us. Their stories, they certainly influence you.” DRESSED LIKE A LORD The heir’s adventure has been the quest for a “perfect Champagne House,” which did not exist on the

market. He is not, of course, the first to try and make it down this difficult path. But, having started from nothing, and with his equally as daring team members, he has over a few years built both a brand and a new Champagne House – Brimoncourt – amidst a scene in which they’re not exactly lacking. The first cuvée was marketed in September 2013: a Brut called “Régence”. Two more names appeared in the spring: a Blanc de Blanc and a Brut Rosé. Production should reach between 200,000 and 250,000

We start with a lawyer who makes a lot of bucks. It’s through his character that Alexandre Cornot inspires confidence, with his rather British composure, lordly dress with checked jackets flirting with dandyism, the defiant moustache, sharpened on the sides like a rapier, of an army colonel in the Indies, the kind from before the troubles in Afghanistan. “We’ve handled some nice files,” he admits, with this euphemism dear to those who juggle with 10-figure sums. After 8 years of study at Assas and La Sorbonne, a joint master’s in business and fiscal law opened the doors for him to a large office in Paris, on the Boulevard Haussmann.

THE AGGRESSIVE KIND He first broke away in 2001: he left his job to accept an internship at Christie’s, an offer he did not refuse because of his love for art, and because his new job would take him into the city of dreams: New York. “I spoke to people who had billions of euros. Later on, I inspected and bought paintings and sculptures on my own, with more or less luck. I made some nice international sales. This contact with works of art made me very happy. But, deep inside, I was frustrated to not be making anything. I was fooling around, but at the end of it, what had I learnt?” The money in the pocket, he was going to blow it. He bought a company in jeopardy when its owner, “a friend in bankruptcy,” called him for help one evening in 2007. The place was not insignificant: Aÿ, in the center of the Champagne region, the historic heart of the champagne vineyards. The company wasn’t

either: this was the Plantet printing factory, where Champagne Houses large and small ordered their labels. A return to the Champagne region of his childhood. What led him to buy the factory was his declared taste “for the world of writing, art and industrial production.” The place was ideal, with its Eiffel framework and its 8,000 lithographic stones, which recount, in their own way, the winegrowing history of the region. Two years later, in 2009, the accounts healthier and business recommenced, he gave up the printing factory, but kept the premises and the 100 tons of stones. Because, in the meantime, he had also purchased a brand from Reims that didn’t really exist anymore: Brimoncourt, which he then set up in the newly vacant buildings. It was quite a daring challenge that he took up; even more so since the economic crisis had just hit the champagne market, and which was therefore on the defensive. For Alexandre Cornot, this was precisely the moment to attack.

“In the champagne business, grape supplies are essential. If the market is riding high, they are held onto tightly. If, on the other hand, the economic situation is quite tough, the market grows less quickly, it becomes difficult to sell champagne and so the hold on supplies is relaxed. This is what allowed us to enter the market,” whe explains. The new Champagne House’s catalogue clearly shows that their boss is of the aggressive kind. It opens onto a double page on which you can read, on a background of vineyards turned golden by the spring, this quote borrowed from a hero of aerial adventure, Pierre-Georges Latécoère (1883-1943), pioneer of the Aéropostale airmail service and the first to have made Toulouse into an aeronautical site: “The calculations confirmed what the experts said: our idea was unrealistic. There was only one thing left to do: Make it work” In the project, nothing was left to chance. “It’s the outcome of a thought. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do. When you start from nothing and you want to make a Champagne House, there is of course an epic side to it, but it needs to be accompanied by a lot of rigor, without which it’s the end of the sure road,” explains the former lawyer, who, to start, spent two years walking in the wine region. It was the chance to build relations with the winegrowers, without whom nothing would have been possible. To those who would reproach him for not having dirtied his hands in the soil, he answered: “It’s true, I’m not a winegrower and I don’t know how to tend the vine. What I do with the oenologist is put things together. That hasn’t stopped me from putting everything I have in jeopardy, from putting so much sweat and more into it, from working from 5am to 11pm and not taking a day or a week-end off for years…”

“I claim the freedom to be light,” Alexandre Cornot

“ROARING YEARS” The founding idea of the new Champagne House was : “to get back to the orignal DNA of champagne, to the time when it was a light and joyful wine, a wine that was drunk with friends, a wine for meeting with people but not at all formal. It’s this DNA that is missing today with certain manufacturers. There are some very complex champagnes out there, but that’s not necessarily what people want to drink. I claim the freedom to be light,” he continues.

The first cuvée, a Brut with a beautiful straw-yellow colour, a rounded feel in the mouth, and with aromas of flowers, is made of 80% chardonnay grapes (from the Côte des Blancs and the Sézannais) and 20% pinot noir (from the Reims mountain), from a 2010 grape-harvest. From its very first introduction, it seduced the demanding critic Michel Bettane who, in his guide, gratifies it with a score of 15.5/20 and a few compliments.

It is called “Régence”. “Régence de Brimoncourt,” now that does a pretty good job of sounding classy, and even a bit snobby. But Alexandre Cornot has another idea in mind: “La Régence, the period that began at the death of Louis XIV, those were roaring years. Like in the 1920s. A wind of liberation swept through the court, but the Regent wasn’t just a party freak. He was a fan of art. And it was during the Regency that champagne began to be fashionable. We are the youngest of the Champagne Houses, and at the same time, we are the most faithful to the DNA of champagne,” he insists. For him, even if champagne is a “wine for friends,” it has to “evolve in an aesthetic world,” even more so since “artists and manufacturers have always courted each other.” A twofold worry in this quest for the original DNA: “Avoiding bitterness and being overly sweet.” “We taste dozens of times, we try to reach a consensus among our tasters. The result is thus not the fruit of marketing. We make wines that we want to drink ourselves. We don’t see ourselves slipping into a wine that isn’t our own.”

Interview with Alexandre Cornot, CEO of Champagne Brimoncourt

CHAMPAGNE NEEDS REQUIREMENT, PASSION AND ELEGANCE

have the intelligence of knowing how not to take themselves too seriously. The dialogue adopted by Brimoncourt is quite simple and rightly so. Life is short, so we should enjoy it, albeit in style. What are your objectives? Brimoncourt is, by its very nature, an international brand. So, we should continue our growth in France and abroad. In this regard, the distribution agreement we signed with Baron Philippe de Rothschild in France is fundamental. The convergence of values and long-term vision that we share have laid out the optimum condition for this strategic and natural partnership. It is the cornerstone of our development.

A Champagne House undergoing vast expansion, located at Aÿ in the historical centre of the appellation in Reims on the prestigious boulevard Lundy. Is this a house which you took over? Yes, in 2008… after starting out in a career in the legal sector in a large Parisian law firm, I felt a real need to manufacture and create by combining my passion with attention to details. I am very demanding on myself and others… Champagne needs this attention to detail, passion and sophistication… Without sophistication, it is simply sparkling wine… the attention to detail and sophistication make for great Champagne and this is where the magic begins, and has done for some three centuries! So people did not wait for you… what makes you stand out? Admittedly, but our expression is that of joyous sophistication which is supported by high-quality and very fresh wines. Allow me to insist on this point: Chardonnay forms over 80% of our Brut Régence. Over 85% of grands crus in our white of whites. We focus our product on a client base which is expectant, who are very serious in life and who

What resources do you use? Work, work, and more work. A little money also, of course. We have reinvested 1.5 million Euros into the company at the beginning of this year. This year, we will increase this investment to 2 to 3 million Euros. Beyond this, our activities are able to fund our organic growth. What are your fundamental values? Humility, desire, action, contemplation, astonishment, and fun…and Champagne Brimoncourt bien sur! Tell us about your best tasting memory? I have many fond memories of wine tastings! However, there is one which flies high above the rest, if I can put it like that…. It was during a journey between New York and Paris on Concorde at 16,000 metres up and travelling at Mach 2, whilst enjoying a Dom Pérignon 1993. Not a noise, not a vibration, the enjoyment of being above the clouds, travelling at high speed and this excellent wine, an unforgettable moment, the peak of civilisation! Champagne Brimoncourt 84, Boulevard Charles de Gaulle - 51160 Aÿ +33 (0)3 26 58 79 00 www.brimoncourt.com - [email protected]

The Man Who Made Champagne

“Work, will, innovation.” These are “And these days, maybe the three main values claimed by Alexandre Cornot. Born in Reims, we need some of this into a mixed family of military men spirit of lightness and and artists, he is a former lawyer, a former buyer and seller of art, a celebration.” former factory owner , and now he is a creator of joy. “We wanted to get back to the tradition of champagne: a wine of celebration, a convivial wine,” explains this young man, in the prime of life and dressed in a green “ British” jacket with large red checks, and a red English-style moustache twisted up at the sides. And, let’s just come out and say it: he pulls it off. We tasted the three Brimoncourt cuvées: Régence, Blanc de Blancs and Rosé, and we weren’t disappointed. Perfect for an aperitif and for fine weather, Brimoncourt is silky smooth, and enjoyed slowly. Snobbery is discouraged! And the “Régence” will quickly make you feel merry, it has to be said.

There is a man who falls somewhere between the capricious dandy of the 1920s and the Scottish Lord philosophising by the fireside. His name is Alexandre Cornot, and he has, quite simply, just created his own Champagne House. How, at just the age of 40, can you get started in such a business? At Lui, we love audacity. We love style… And we love everything fizzy too. So we met up with the founder of this brand new Brimoncourt champagne. Interview below.

“In the Régence period, people worked, of course, but they had fun as well.”

“The name of our first cuvée, ‘Régence’, isn’t just random,” the Brimoncourt CEO wants to make it clear. It was in fact during this particular period of French history that the king of all drinks really blossomed at Court. In 1715, at the death of Louis XIV, his heir, the future Louis XV, was only 5 years old. This was thus a period in which, certainly, the continuity of the state (and the monarchy) was ensured, by the regency, fittingly, but one that was also characterised by a different feeling, an authority that was not so clear, or asserted, as under the reign of the Sun King. Champagne had been around for a while already, but it was then that it bloomed at court, amidst a certain spirit of entertainment, of partying, and doubtless of vague uncertainties too – liberal ideas began to sprout, sown by Montaigne and cultivated by Fontenelle. “It’s this kind of champagne that we want, one of fun, of lightness. A wine that doesn’t intimidate, that you drink for pure pleasure, and not in formality. Formality. Formality is great. So is being carefree.” That’s a huge undertaking! “Régence is like springtime, like a breeze,” Alexandre explains, in his studied and always impeccable vocabulary.

Brimoncourt is a young champagne house, but paradoxically one of the most traditional, directly echoing this moment that was the real birth of champagne. It was then a wine of celebration, of pleasure, that opened the mind and made women’s eyes sparkle. We wanted to get back to that, not to the powdered wigs, but to that spirit. We wanted to make something joyful…” “The dominance of Chardonnay gives it a delicate nose, subtle and very elegant,” explains Dominique Laporte, the best Sommelier in France. “It reveals aromas of white flowers and seductive fruity notes brought by the Pinot Noir grapes. It has an assertive minerality, which gives it distinction and nobility. Aeration develops fragrances of brioche and citrus fruits, thanks to the addition of reserve wines that bring complexity to this wine.” Wanting, it would seem, to give his baby every possible chance, Alexandre willingly plays the interview game, but apologises when he slips into his personal story – but that’s what we want to hear, anyway! “Well, I don’t want to say that… Not that… I’m not saying that…” are the phrases he starts, in a shy laugh that peppers the account of his law years in Assas (“8 years, of study, I wasn’t the most virulent of students”), which he completed with a joint master’s in business law and fiscal law and a Phd, his time spent advising “fascinating” businessmen in a “big law firm, where my work was always renewed, but where, as well, at one point I asked myself: am I going to do this all my life?” It was then, when one of his clients, discovering his interest in art, offered him an internship at his auction house. The young lawyer certainly liked art, but might perhaps not have dropped everything for a simple internship in this new world… If he hadn’t learnt that the internship in question would be in… New York.

“It was very much an internship”, so pretty soon I had no qualms about leaving work on Friday to go to Hamptons or Cape Cod, and coming back on Tuesday. It was alright, especially because, when I was there, I worked, I delivered what was asked of me – and in the United States, in my experience in any case, it’s not so much presence that is asked for as results. I went for a lot of walks. I made friends. I drank cocktails. And I noticed that… In France, in shops, wine is classed by regions, châteaux, cuvées… There’ll be 6 Côtes du Rhônes, 30 Bordeaux and as many Bourgognes at the local wine merchant’s… In the United States, French wine was, in itself, nothing more than a wine among all the others, Chilean, Californian, Australian, South African.” It’s true than in France, we grow up in a wine culture, we know the domains, and we’ll hesitate, for example, between a Saint-Joseph and a MilleSecousses. In the United States, you order a Chardonnay, a Syrah, a Pinot Noir… and that’s it. “There is a need for simplicity,” insists Alexandre – quite normal, since mastering wine, when it’s not in your culture, really is a whole other profession in its own, right! And, without, however, thinking about creating my brand, I… I just noticed that.” Let’s move quickly through the years that followed. Alexandre became, not an auctioneer, but a buyer and seller of art (“I have some works I bought that I’m still stuck with, but I also made some serious deals”), slowly grew, and finished by blowing all his bucks in purchasing a struggling printing house when its owner, “a friend in bankruptcy,” asked him for help.

The lawyer art dealer and fan of walks in Long Island found himself now as an entrepreneur through friendship, and a printer. “And that was awful. Because all that happened when everything was in full crisis. The graphics industry crisis, dreadful, and the global economic crisis, which we’re still in, but which exploded right at that moment, and then the champagne crisis, a consequence of the global economic crisis. So, this business that was specialised in printing champagne labels… was not going well at all. I was thus to discover a new life, which, believe me, started very early in the morning and finished very late in the evening, and even then, I’m only talking about the least difficult of those years.”

point.”

Finally, the business had been sorted out, sold not to an industry shark but to another printer, and no-one got fired, which is, let’s say, not such a small feat of arms these days. And as everything had been moved out, I found myself with some very big and empty premises. These are today the premises of Brimoncourt, a very old brand that no longer existed and that I then purchased at that

Following, then, the release of the Régence autumn 2013, the Blanc de Blancs in spring, the Brimoncourt Rosé Champagne now arrives with the hope, but above all the desire, to liven up sunny days …and rainy ones too. Will you succumb to its fine sweetness? You know what you have to do to find out. Julien Millanvoye

“The calculations confirmed what the experts said: our idea was unrealistic. There was only one thing left to do: Make it work”. A quote from Pierre-Georges Latécoère, visionary aircraft manufacturer and pioneer of the Aéropostale airmail service. Alexandre Cornot has made this quote his own, because it perfectly sums up his approach: creating a Champagne House from nothing (or almost nothing) and that was to set its roots in tradition, when nobody else would believe it possible… just him

Though he grew up in Champagne, it had nothing to do with the vineyards, but was down to the chance of his father’s military career…

Alexandre CORNOT The Creator of Brimoncourt This passionate businessman has walked an unusual path, and set up Brimoncourt, the youngest of the Champagne Houses. Its first cuvée was marketed just two years ago. And how quickly it has grown…

by Sylvie Bonin

It was a path as unusual as his own. Though he grew up in Champagne, it had nothing to do with the vineyards, but was down to the chance of his father’s military career, which at the time had him stationed at Reims’ air force base. Descending from a military family through his two grandfathers, who won fame in the last war, the young Alexander was adamant to do his military service, optional at the time: 18 months in the navy as a Marine officer, after being trained at the French Marines School in Brittany. Now there’s how you build yourself a soldier’s character, and quite simply, a fighter’s spirit. But he did not choose a career in the army. Interested by history, heritage and transmission, he was drawn to Law school. After 8 years of it in Paris at Assas and La Sorbonne, he began work at a big Law firm in Paris. …Just until fate first took him by the hand: “I really liked what I was doing. I’d been there for 4 years, when one of my clients told me, over lunch, that he was moving to New York. Immediately afterwards, knowing that I was interested in art, he offered

me an internship at Christie’s.” Alexandre resigned and left to work at Christie’s in New York, freely… Family atavism: as much as military rigor, he inherited great artistic sensitivity and an open mind. “I grew up in a dual culture: the army and the fine arts. There have been a lot of amateur artists in my family: they were painters, sculptors, musicians… My great-grandfather married a Russian. My grandfather, a military man, was a pianist and spoke 5 languages.” Alexandre too studied the piano for 10 years at the Conservatoire music college. At Christie’s in New York, he worked in the department of private sales. “It was an amazing year of opening up to other fields, other horizons, other contacts. Taking out from a case, with my own hands, a painting by Klimt or a sculpture by Picasso, it was wonderful!” After a year, in 2003, he returned to France: “Thrilled by this experience, I decided to set up a mini-Christie’s by myself, for private sales. I bought works of art to sell on, and more or less successfully… there are a few that I’ve still got!” For 10 years, he travelled the whole world, searching for works and collectors. He discovered other cultures, other ways of life: “I observed in particular the habits of drinking wine in different countries, and I noted that our French ‘vinocentrism’ was not shared by everybody. In New York, for example, we would have a glass of good wine during the aperitif, standing in the kitchen. I said to myself that we too ought to be able to deconsecrate things in this field, and breathe in a bit of lightness, spontaneity… I loved champagne, and I wanted to bring a personal touch to this very standardized world.” The idea, still blurry, began to grow. A series of coincidences would allow it to take shape. But with chances, it’s all about what you do with them: to seize the opportunity or not, that is the question.

“I hope that Brimoncourt brings a bit of spontaneity, lightness, a certain relaxed elegance.” One afternoon in October 2007, he received a phone call from one of his friends who was seeking help and told him that the family printing factory was going to be bankrupted in Court the following morning at 9am. That didn’t leave much time to act… Caring about the fate of this company, that was more than a century old, and its 25 employees, he sent a fax that same day to the Court and obtained a grace period of three months. When no takeover entrepreneur showed signs of appearing, he finally decided to take it over himself. He kept the premises, the staff and the machines, and recommenced business. “Chance” had arranged things well: this Printing company, founded after the war of 1870 by Édouard Plantet, and set up in Aÿ, next to Épernay, was specialised in printing labels for champagne bottles. When he had become a full-time printer, Alexandre Cornot was to seize another opportunity: in 2008, learning that the Brimoncourt champagne brand was in escheat, he bought it. It had no activity attached to it, there was everything to do. “What I had been missing in my previous professions was the chance to create, to produce something,” he notes. “There, I already had a brand whose name I liked, and premises remarkably situated in Aÿ. I decided to create my Champagne House. Even though, as with Latécoère, everyone predicted it would fail…”

Deballon, in charge of production, François Huré, oenologist. In 2010, he resold the printing factory, keeping the premises. “it’s a privilege to be set up here,” the young CEO stresses with enthusiasm. “It plants our Champagne House into the heart of the Champagne appellation. In terms of geography, Aÿ is at the center of prestigious terroirs, 100% grands crus. In terms of history, it was one of the first appellations identified: the wines of Aÿ, light reds, were already appreciated by King Henri IV, who proclaimed himself the Lord of Aÿ.” It’s not just the location, the premises are historical too. The 3,000 square meters of the old factory, a succession of great halls under Eiffel metallic structures that opens onto a beautiful garden, houses a veritable museum: a Voirin & Marinoni lithographic press from 1860 neighbours a ‘gold powder’ machine, which can print labels illuminated with gold, and which is still in working order. “I’d so love to use it one day for a prestigious cuvée,” Alexandre dreams. The wooden printer’s cases containing lead characters are still lined up against the wall, and the lithographic collection has remained untouched: stored from floor to ceiling over a height of 7 meters, 8,000 stones that have borne the designs, hand-drawn in ink, of labels, neck labels and adverts for Champagne Houses for a century and a half. Other works – and by no means lesser – reflect Alexandre’s eclectic passion for art: a monumental Thinker by Rodin in bronze – “800 kilos of thought!” – stood on wooden palettes contrasts with fragile Degas statues, and a beautiful portrait of the 18th Century Regent hangs a stone’s throw from a striking portrait of Clint Eastwood…

He took the time to assemble his company, to find good supplies, and to form his team: François Demouy, head of marketing and communication, Simon-Charles Lepage, in charge of export, Geoffroy

“I believe champagne and art were made to enhance the everyday,” explains Alexandre Cornot. “I’m against the ‘solemnization’ of champagne, which would reserve it to grand occasions. I hope that Brimoncourt brings it a bit of spontaneity, a certain relaxed elegance. We make wines that we like, very fresh and light.” Quite fittingly, this approach really expresses the style of this man in his distinguished 40s, with his nonchalant elegance, old French courtesy, classical culture and offbeat humor. His moustache, curled at the ends, which he has been styling like that for several months “for its fun side”, and which, with his beard and blue eyes, makes him look like the czar Nicholas II of Russia – perhaps a souvenir of his Russian great-grandmother. “Producing a good champagne involves both art and rigor,” he confirms. Brimoncourt selects its supplies from the best crus: chardonnay grapes from the Côte des Blancs and the Sézannais, pinot noir from the Reims mountain, and pinot meunier from the Marne valley. Brimoncourt’s first cuvée, Brut Régence, is characterized by a fine balance between fresh and supple. It was marketed in September 2013, and made quite an impression (15.5/20 in the Bettane & Desseauve 2014 guide). “Its name pays homage to the Regent, explains Alexandre. “After the austerity that weighed heavily on life at Court at the end of Louis XIV’s reign, Philippe d’Orléans brought in a party spirit. These ‘roaring years’ of the 18th Century correspond to the take off of champagne.” Then, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth, he shows the box. It features a picture of a giraffe, whose neck rises out of an officer’s collared pea-jacket: “Don’t you think she holds her head just beautifully?” Two more cuvées complete the wine range. The Blanc de Blancs: “an elegant and generous wine, with a lot freshness, length, minerality, tension and integrity,” Alexandre comments. Its box features handwritten lines from a letter written from father to son, recounting the history of Brimoncourt. And lastly the Brut Rosé: “delicate, light, feminine, like the poppy flower that decorates the box.” This rosé is apparently very popular at the Élysée Palace… It should be said that the Brimoncourt champagnes can be delivered cool in less than an hour anywhere in Paris, by scooter or roller skates, by the company “tok tok tok”. It fits perfectly with the image of spontaneity that Alexandre wants to bring to the champagne.



Brimoncourt, which celebrates the first birthday of its champagne in September, has set itself a target to produce 120,000 bottles within the next two years, and 300,000 within the next five. As of 1st January 2014, its distribution in France is handled by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, which reaches more than 3,400 cafés, hotels and restaurants, and 700 independent retailers. A fine ambassador indeed. As wise old Virgil used to say, fortune favours the brave. After having been a lawyer, an art dealer, and a printer, Alexandre Cornot is happily at the head of a Champagne House that he created himself. So, should we dub him Alexandre the Fortunate? More like Alexandre the Philosophical: “I start from the principle that if nothing is for granted then nothing is impossible.” then quoting a line from ancient Greek Euripides, spoken by Hecuba, wife of the Trojan king Priam, and who was taken captive by the Greeks: “Careless the mortal who, believing his happiness complete, wallows in it…” Not this man.

After studying law in Paris, ten years travelling the world over to promote works of art, Alexandre Cornot, native from Reims, acquires the printing house Plantet in Ay in 2007 and Brimoncourt, an undeveloped Champagne brand, in 2008. He returns to his birthplace to build the foundations of a new Champagne trade house within the premises of the printing house.

H

E SAYS IT: “I have been thinking many years before action. Several questions came up to me: what would be the ideal champagne house ? Why not create it ? I have acquired a name, a production site. I also have a precise idea of the wine I would like to produce : fresh, ethereal, based on chardonnay. Isn’t the crisis a disincentive ? “ This entrepreneur, born under Capricorn, takes up the challenge of creating in 2009 the House Brimoncourt, in the midst of the crisis of the market. “The crisis, he explains, I have been living with it for ten years; In Champagne, it is a bonanza for the newcomers as the supplies get more flexible, which enabled us to conclude sustainable agreements in the expected terroirs”. After having crisscrossed the vineyard, he found what he was looking for in the Sézanne area and in the south of the Côte de Blancs, regions where the grapes are full of freshness and minerality, naturally round. He works with external providers, hires a small cellar in Ay, is helped by François Huré, wine grower in Ludes, who works there as a cellar master, and by Geoffroy Deballon, wine technician. In 2013 his first cuvee was born : brut régence, with the 2009 harvest, a blend of 80 % Chardonnay and 20 % Pinot Noir from the Reims and Ay mountains, a wine with a pure vividness, a beautiful freshness and the fruitiness of citrus- lemon, grapefruit. It’s marketing really starts in the 4th term. The Grande Epicerie shop in the Bon Marché store is his first and most prestigious outlet. Two other cuvees will soon be released.

A Blanc de Blancs has been marked in January 2014 and a Rosé will follow. This year, brimoncourt will have a beautiful surprise : Chairman Alexandre Cornot has signed a distribution agreement for France with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The objective is to sell 120.000 bottles within two years. Another project for 2014 also is to transfer the vat house into the room La Croix of the printing house, with tomato red, apple green and lemon yellow walls where, in the centre, a

monumental reproduction of The Thinker by Rodin has found a place of honour. This sculpture has been used for an advertisement in 1994 in the USA for a brand of wine with the slogan : “We can’t remake the world over a glass of white wine” But with a flute of good Champagne in hand, and surrounded by friends and colleagues like Alexandre Cornot is, why not manage to ? Marie-Caroline Bourrellis

This month sees another new launch. It’s the first vintage (2006, again) from Champagne Barons de Rothschild - itself a company created from scratch just 10 years ago by banking industry doyens and Bordeaux royalty the Rothschilds, with the first NV bottle released on the market in 2009. It’s somehow levelling to think of the Rothschilds as the new kids on the block. I was with them in Paris for the launch of the 2006 vintage (excellent - mineral, elegant but weighty enough to hold the room) this week. Baron Philippe Sereys de Rothschild, chairman of the new venture, told me, «Even with the Rothschild name, we’re not part of the old set of champagne, so it’s much harder to set up contracts with growers or search for the right vines to buy. We don’t know what is for sale, we don’t have the shortcuts and inside knowledge that we have in Bordeaux. It takes time and patience, but we wanted to approach this in the spirit that we do everything - with the desire to be the best.» Of all the regions in France to be a fledgling winemaker, getting started in Champagne must be the toughest challenge of all. Grape contracts are fiercely protected. The big champagne houses control 65 per cent of the output and 90 per cent of the export market for the region and have huge marketing budgets. And the same traditional houses (Moët Hennessy, Laurent-Perrier and the rest) snap up any sliver of land that might come up for sale - usually way before it even gets to market. If that’s not enough, wines are tied up for years sitting on their lees and getting the bubble-creating secondary fermentation in bottle before being released to market, making production and storage costs toe-curlingly expensive. Because of all this, when new champagnes make it to the shelf they usually come from existing houses, like the Roederer Brut Nature that saw its inaugural 2006 vintage last September. Hats off, then, to two new ventures. First up a French entrepreneur Alexandre Cornot, who, in 2008, founded a new champagne house, called Champagne Brimoncourt. Its first bottles of Brut Régence NV made it to market in 2013. They had no background in the industry (Cornot was born in the region but had left to become a successful art dealer, while his business partner came from the steel industry and has since moved on again), but used their business skills and love of champagne to attract a dozen small shareholders to help fund the venture, which is based in the Marne town of Aÿ (home to Ayala and Bollinger).

To date they buy grapes from 20 growers working 61 hectares across the prestigious Côte de Blancs, with less than a hectare of their own vines («At least we now have our foot in the door, says Baron Philippe). The newly-acquired vines also come with a residence in the village of Vertus in the Côtes de Blancs, one of the highest rated of the premier cru villages where Duval-Leroy has had its base since 1859. This means they now have underground cellars for riddling and ageing the wines (three years, so twice as long as a typical champagne even for the non-vintage brut, rosé and blanc de blancs). The winery is elsewhere, in Reims, where they also have a large and beautiful hôtel particulier, or private mansion for entertaining clients. This is not the first Rothschild champagne - the first Baron Philippe de Rothschild put his name to a special cuvée of Ruinart in the 1970s, where he was also a board member. «My grandfather was well known for his love of champagne,» his namesake said with a smile that spoke volumes. It turns out that Baron Eric of Lafite Rothschild also thought about getting involved in the region, when he considered buying Krug in 2000, as did his cousin Baron Benjamin of Chateau Clarke. «We decided there was no point in having three separate Rothschild champagnes in addition to the separate wines - so this became a family project.» All of which explains why there’s an extra challenge to this new venture; Champagne Barons de Rothschild is a partnership of the three different branches of the family - with the three cousins behind Lafite, Mouton and Clarke all playing a part. This is the first time, apparently, in 230 years of history that all three parts of the family have worked together on a specific project. And seeing them over lunch was a bit like a rowdy family reunion. There were interruptions, shared reminiscences of childhood misdemeanours, jokes at each other’s expense. Just like any other family lunch, although this one happened to be in a sumptuous 18th century residence on Rue de l’Élysée, pretty much the most exclusive address in Paris. But Rothschild or Cornot, there is still the business of building a new brand of champagne. To date, both of these new ventures are small: 300,000 bottles per year for Champagne Barons de Rothschild and about 150,000 per year for Champagne Brimoncourt. «It’s hard work,» says Baron Philippe, «but we always bear in mind the spirit of champagne. And that means never forgetting its sense of fun.» Jane Anson is a Bordeaux-based wine writer

Once Upon A Wine

introduces you to Champagne Brimoncourt a new Champagne brand expanding to Australia soon!

note, Once Upon A Wine liked the distinctive giraffe artwork on the box and the reason why it was chosen is that the giraffe is he only animal that does not drink alone, due to its long neck. The Champagne Rosé has a beautiful rose pink colour. The Rosé’s consists of a blend of 40% Chardonnay, 50% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier. The reason for this blend breakdown is provide elegance and finesse from the Chardonnay, structure and colour from the Pinot noir and to give lovely fruity aromas from the Pinot Meunier. On the nose, there are lovely aromas of citrus, blossom, floral roses and raspberries, with subtle hints of honey. On the palate, there are delicious flavours of strawberries, raspberries and rhubarb. This Champagne has a long, elegant and crisp finish. The Rosé would be paired well with a nice cheese platter, or to accompany dessert. Magnifique! Once Upon A Wine liked the pink box and the beautiful flowers – very fitting for the Rosé. The Blanc de Blancs is golden yellow in colour. It is made using 100% Chardonnay grapes with 85% consisting of Grand Crus Classés). The grapes are sourced from Mesnil sur Oger, Oger, Chouilly. On the nose, there are wonderful aromas of fresh fruit and white floral aromas. On the palate there are fresh, delicious and zesty citrus/ lemon flavours. The Blanc de Blancs is nice and sweet with balanced minerality and a nice, crisp and refreshing finish. It definitely a fresh and lively and elegant Champagne. The Blanc de Blancs would be ideal as an aperitif, or would be paired well with a nice seafood dish. Once Upon A Wine thinks Blanc de Blancs Champagne would have a great place in the Australian market. Definitely worth checking this one out! The artwork on the Blanc De Blanc box includes beautifully written words including ‘in character’ and ‘in style’.

Who are Champagne Brimoncourt? Champagne Brimoncourt was founded on the idea of getting back to the original DNA of champagne, to the time when light and joyful wines, can be enjoyed with friends, and in good company, but without things being too formal. Taken over in 2008 by ambitious ex-navy seals and former art dealer, Alexandre Cornot, Champagne Brimoncourt has the ambition to re-define the expression of Champagne throughout the world, and they are looking to establish the brand in Australia! With a strong high end positioning, Champagne Brimoncourt have created 4 distinct elegant and refined cuvees (Brut, Rosé, Blanc de Blanc and Extra Brut) made of a strict selection of the best crus! The Champagnes were first released in 2013. Champagne Brimoncourt is founded on 4 values: elegance, independence, sharing and lightness. Once Upon A Wine recently meet the Australian ambassador, Hugues was fortunate also one of the first Australians to experience Champagne Brimoncourt! Once Upon A Wine tried all 4 - the Brut, the Rosé, the Blanc de Blancs and the Extra Brut Champagnes. Some background - it took 6 years to select the grapes and vines for the Brimoncourt Champagnes. Brimoncourt believe that the quest for excellence relies upon access to the best Crus in Champagne. Their Chardonnays come from the Côte des Blancs, their Pinot Noirs come from the Montagne de Reims and their Pinot Meuniers come from the Marne Valley. The Brut Regence Champagne has a beautiful golden straw colour and gives elegant bubbles when poured into the glass. It is comprised of 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir. The Chardonnay grapes are sourced from South of Côte des Blanc and 20% Pinot Noir grapes are from Montagne de Reims. On the nose, there are enticing white floral and citrus aromas. The chardonnay flavour is dominant but is balanced by the pinot noir which adds wonderful fruit flavours. The palate is very captivating! It is soft, consisting of delicious fruit flavours with excellent depth of flavour, followed by a creamy mid palate and a beautiful lingering clean and crisp finish. The brut is definitely an elegant Champagne which leaves you very satisfied! The Brut is ideal as an aperitif or would be paired well with canapés or a nice seafood dish. As a side

Once Upon A Wine hadn’t tried an Extra Brut before Champagne Brimoncourt. But what an introduction he got to it! For those of you who haven’t heard of Extra Brut Champagne, it describes a “natural” or driest of the dry Champagnes and indicates that no sugar has been added in regards to sugar dosage. Extra Brut champagnes typically have less than 6 grams of residual sugar per litre. Champagne Brimoncourt’s Extra Brut only has 2 grams of sugar! The Extra Brut Champagne reflects Champagne Brimoncourt’s dedication to the Champagne land and is made from a rigorous selection of the best grapes chosen exclusively from 6 villages classified as ‘Grand Cru’ (Mesnil sur Oger, Oger, Cramant, Aÿ, Bouzy and Ambonnay). It consists of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. The Extra Brut is light yellow in colour with elegant and delicate bottles. On the nose, there are fine and intense aromas of citrus and white fruits. On the palate there are delicious citrus flavours which are balanced with nice minerality and a lingering finish. This wine would be great as an apertief or would be paired well with spicy Asian dishes. The artwork on the box and label is a tribute to the French Garden (Jardin à la Francaise) of Le Notre, the gardener of the king Louis XIV, who created the Chateau de Versailles in France. Overall, Once Upon A Wine was highly impressed with all 4 Brimoncourt Champagnes and feels honoured to be one of the first Australian’s to try these Champagnes. I think this Champagne brand has potential to establish a great presence in the Australian market. In Australia, Champagne Brimoncourt will be aiming to target high-end bars, restaurants, wine stores and travel retail. A big thanks to Hugues for giving me this opportunity. I wish Champagne Brimoncourt all the best of success in expanding to Australia.

GRAPE OBSERVER There seems something just a little bit likeable and eccentric about the team behind Champagne Brimoncourt, a new Champagne house in an old region. A scroll through their website confirms this. The brand itself last appeared on a label in the 1950s, but Alexandre Cornot, born in Reims, acquired it in 2008 and after several years of small steps launched its first non-vintage release in 2014. With Cornot’s background to date including the navy, the law and buying and selling art, there’s a bit of a relatable departure from the norm. Brimoncourt has now found its way to Australian shores, and I tasted a couple of their new releases. The Brimoncourt Régence Brut NV is a classically profiled Champagne, with aromatics of strawberry, lemon, stones and brioche characters. The mousse is fine, and the acidity fresh, elegant and linear, with brioche and lemon notes to the fore. The dosage is around 7 to 8g of residual sugar, which gives the wine a good balance on the palate. There is a lot to like here. The Brimoncourt Blanc de Blancs is a racier style again, and firmer. Its aromatics remind of lemons and stones, with yeast characters restrained. The palate is fresh, clean and minerally, with high acid and lemon notes. This Champagne is made from chardonnay sourced from the north of the Côte de Blancs, and it shows. Stylistically distinct, this is another good release.