Calluses are a critical sign from the vineyard.
Searching for a new producer to bring to the Avid Vines portfolio requires a game plan. The first producer we chose, Andre TIXIER & Fils, impacts the next. How to decide on selection number two? We know the selection has to be organic, and it has to have bubbles, but that’s just the beginning. At Millésime Bio 2020 in Montpellier, France, one of the world’s premier conferences dedicated to organic wine, we went in with specific criteria to find our top contenders amongst the thousands of choices. It starts with revisiting all the reasons why we got into this business.
Authenticity. Thankfully, many of the people in the booths at the conference in Montpellier were the winemakers themselves or family members who work in the cellar and the fields. (They are able to attend because January is a slow month when the manual work is at its lowest level and the fields are resting.) What’s more appealing than meeting the one who has grown up in the vineyard, shares her passion with every word spoken, and shows the labor of love with her callused hands?! We discovered some owner-growers with vineyards dating back a century when the region of Alsace, an area known for its sparkling wines called Crémant, was German territory (returned to France after WWI.) Others could trace their family lineage even farther back to the Sun King (Le Roi Soleil) Louis XIV!
Nice juice, but these did not make the cut.
Owner/growers deeply connected to the land and their life’s work. In France, this is referred to as récoltant-manipulant (RM) which means the owner grows their own grapes, does not add or purchase anyone else’s grapes, and manages the entire production from the budbreak to bottle. Exceptional Value. The industry calls this QPR which stands for ‘Quality Price Ratio’. The next addition to Avid Vines will balance the portfolio with a lower-priced but high-quality, stunning entrant. Our five finalists are all Crémants from either Alsace, Burgundy, or Bordeaux. With Champagne in a category all to its own, Crémant is France’s answer to Spanish cava and Italian prosecco. We have a love affair with this type of sparkler! Until we choose the winner, enjoy the Champagne to Experience that’s already here!
Notre Vin de Selection: Carte Or Brut
Can’t decide which one to taste first? May we suggest the Carte Or Brut, a silver medalist at the TEXSOM International Wine Awards 2020. We clapped our hands raw after tasting this! It offers toasted hazelnut, vanilla bean, and strawberry shortcake, along with Meyer Lemon acids. A whiff holds traces of honeysuckle and rose petals. Pairs with: roasted chicken, smoked turkey, North Carolina trout, salad Nicoise, anything with an egg and flour in it. Perfect with cheese similar in style as those from Sequatchie Cove Creamery (TN), Sweet Grass Dairy (GA), and Brazos Valley (TX).
André TIXIER & Fils & Premier Cru Carte Or is an award winner, earning a Silver Medal for non-vintage champagne in the 2020 TEXSOM International Wine Awards.