Why it matters
The producer
Maud Plener represents the seventh generation of Champagne Jean Plener Fils and currently leads the family estate. The family has been established since the nineteenth century, and the current range is built around Pinot Noir and Chardonnay Grand Cru cuvées.
Brut Grand Cru is the classic version of the signature blend. Alongside it, the estate makes Rosé Grand Cru with Bouzy Rouge, Brut Nature Grand Cru without dosage, and Cuvée Réservée Grand Cru with longer cellar ageing and a lower dosage. The wines differ through their grape composition, cellar time, still red wine addition and sugar level at disgorgement.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Bouzy is a Grand Cru village in the Montagne de Reims. In Champagne, Grand Cru is a village classification attached to the origin of the grapes, so the name links the bottle to a defined place before the wine is opened.
Bouzy enters the range in two distinct forms. Rosé Grand Cru includes 12% Bouzy Rouge, while Brut Nature Grand Cru uses Pinot Noir and Chardonnay selected from the best parcels of the Bouzy terroir. The village therefore appears both as the source of the sparkling cuvées and as the source of the still red wine used in the rosé.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Lees ageing keeps Champagne in contact with yeast after the second fermentation. Over time, that contact can soften the mousse and add bread, pastry or brioche notes. Champagne Jean Plener Fils also uses manual riddling for Brut Grand Cru, the traditional process of gradually turning bottles so the sediment moves toward the neck before disgorgement.
Dosage is the addition of sugar at disgorgement. The estate varies that final adjustment between cuvées, including a no dosage Brut Nature and a lower dosage Cuvée Réservée.
Wines to know
The range in view
Brut Grand Cru is the classic version of the signature blend, made from 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay, aged for four years on lees and manually riddled. Its dosage is 7.2 g/L.
Rosé Grand Cru adds 12% Bouzy Rouge to the sparkling wine. Brut Nature Grand Cru uses Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Bouzy's best parcels, with no liqueur added at disgorgement. Cuvée Réservée Grand Cru is the longer aged version of the signature blend, spending five to six years in the cellar with a dosage of 6.4 g/L.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Brut Grand Cru is the first bottle to open. It is the classic version of the signature blend, built from the estate's core Pinot Noir and Chardonnay pairing and given manual riddling in the cellar. The wine introduces the central sparkling cuvée before the range moves into the Bouzy Rouge addition of the rosé, the absence of dosage in Brut Nature, or the longer ageing of Cuvée Réservée.