As the weather warms, the blossoms bloom, and once again, the Champagne starts to flow. So, it’s time to put out our annual grower Champagne offer for those clients who want to make a push on these brilliant and singular wines in the lead-up to Christmas. It's worth remembering that the pricing of top grower Champagne tends to reflect something very real and tangible. These wines occupy a realm entirely apart from most Champagne, offering textures and structures that are resonant and memorable. Raphaël Bérêche recently told us that he employs one vigneron for each hectare of vines his domaine farms. It’s the kind of ratio that you would find at a top Burgundy estate. Tasting his vibrant and intensely flavoured wines, you can only admire his exacting methodology. In the small village of Chavot on the outskirts of Épernay, Aurélien Laherte has broken the glass ceiling once imposed on those regions and grape varieties not favoured by Champagne’s defunct échelle des crus. His intensely focused lieu-dit bottlings, combined with his innovative approach to vinification, have expanded the limits of what many thought possible in the Coteaux Sud d’Épernay; his (very reasonable) pricing reflects his hours spent in the vineyards and what it has cost him where he is today. Even the more established growers continue to innovate, proving there are no shortcuts to true quality. At our most recent visit to the Larmandier family in Vertus, we found one of Champagne’s iconic growers in a state of efflorescence, from trialling technology in the vineyards to ever-more precise and detailed vinification and aging in the cellar. In short, all these farmers work as closely with nature as possible, and their Champagnes show the heights wine culture can reach when you combine best practices in the vineyard with constant striving for quality. Many of the wines in this offer will be available to taste at our Fête du Champagne sessions this week. It’s worth noting that the tastings will not be limited to each grower’s entry-level wines. In most cases, you’ll get to try the single-site vintage wines and, in the case of Laherte-Frères, Aurélien’s rare limited-edition bottlings. Reach out to your rep for full offer details. Cheers.