The Meunier Rouge - Le Rû Bailly 2021 cuvée from Nowack is a still wine produced under the Coteaux Champenois rouge appellation. It is a wine with notes of crunchy redcurrant — fresh violet — gentle spices, sourced from a single Pinot Meunier plot on the slopes of Vandières. On the palate, the texture is airy, carried by a chiselled acidity that stretches the red fruit towards a chalky, digestible finish. A wine crafted by Flavien Nowack, a passionate winegrower whose single-vineyard production remains delightfully under the radar.
Description & production
The Terroir
The Vandières terroir occupies a hillside in the Marne Valley. The local geology layers fine sands over an argilo-calcareous matrix. This structure drains rainwater down towards the lower strata, allowing vine roots to plunge deep into the underlying chalky subsoil. The aspect promotes the ripening of Pinot Meunier grapes. Flavien Nowack has tended the family vines with an artisanal philosophy since 2012.
Soil work is carried out mechanically between the rows. The complete elimination of synthetic herbicides preserves spontaneous flora. A biodynamic approach supports the plant's natural defences in line with lunar cycles. Short winter pruning limits the number of buds per vine, while spring de-budding regulates the future crop load.
The winemaking
Hand harvesting is accompanied by rigorous berry sorting. Only healthy grapes at optimal ripeness are selected. Transport in ventilated crates protects the juice from any premature oxidation. A partial destemming separates the stalks to limit vegetal astringency, before skin maceration begins in open vats in the cellar. Contact between the must and the skins extracts the characteristic ruby colour.
Indigenous yeasts (micro-organisms naturally present on the grape skins) trigger alcoholic fermentation spontaneously. The wine then undergoes an extended maturation phase in old oak barrels.
Flavien Nowack also produces sparkling Blanc de Noirs champagnes, showcasing the versatility of Meunier on this terroir.
The 2021 vintage
The 2021 growing season presented a particularly unusual meteorological profile. April was hit by several nights of severe frost across Champagne, damaging the early buds of the Meunier. The spring season remained cool and rainy, encouraging the development of downy mildew on the foliage. Maintaining organic viticulture demanded constant vigilance throughout the vineyard.
September brought a decisive turnaround: dry conditions and direct sunshine completed the ripening of the surviving bunches. The juices showed a low pH with high total acidity. This lively acidic backbone structures the spine of the vintage and guarantees the wine's longevity. The harvest yielded concentrated material, focused on small red fruits.
Tasting notes
Appearance
The fluid robe displays a ruby red colour with copper reflections.
Nose
The nose opens on a bouquet centred around crunchy red fruits. Freshly picked redcurrant dominates the first olfactory impression. Aeration reveals subtle notes of violet intertwined with gentle spices.
Palate
The attack on the palate reveals an airy texture coating the mouth. The vintage's chiselled acidity stretches the red fruit with a mouth-watering tension. The chalky finish invites you to linger over the experience.
Food pairing suggestions
- Pepper pâté en croûte
- Duck terrine
- Aged Iberian ham
- Roasted deboned pigeon
- Duck with cranberries
- Pan-fried veal sweetbreads
- Ewe's milk Tomme
- Aged farmhouse Chaource
- Truffle Brie de Meaux
The Plus de Bulles expert's opinion
Why I love it
The purity of this red wine won me over with its redcurrant freshness and violet notes. I adored its delicate texture and its clean, elegantly drawn-out finish.
My recommendation
Serve this bottle at 15–16 °C in a wine glass to accompany a roast chicken.
Serving & storage advice
How to store this wine?
Plus de Bulles ships this bottle (75 cl) in reinforced packaging specially designed for transporting champagne. Upon receipt, we recommend storing the bottle on its side, away from light — ideally in a cellar, and in any case in a cool, not too dry place with a relatively stable temperature. The sulphite-free winemaking makes this wine sensitive to sudden temperature fluctuations: a consistent cellar environment remains the best option.
Ageing potential
The acidic backbone of the 2021 vintage gives the Meunier Rouge - Le Rû Bailly 2021 cuvée from Nowack an ageing potential of around eight years. This still wine will evolve in its aromatic profile over time in the cellar.
- Up to 2026: the fruit profile leans towards crunchy redcurrant and fresh cherry.
- From 2027: time reveals scents of undergrowth, leather and gentle spices.
- Around 2029: the tannic structure softens into a rounded, persistent tertiary finish.
Serving suggestions
Best served at around fourteen degrees Celsius. Opening the bottle thirty minutes before tasting allows the wine to breathe. A Burgundy-style red wine glass concentrates the fruit aromas and disperses any reductive notes that may arise from the absence of sulphites. Gradual contact with air awakens the subtle hint of violet.
A note about this cuvée
The Coteaux Champenois appellation perpetuates the region's winemaking history, which predates the méthode champenoise. The Vandières terroir once supplied highly sought-after red wines, which Flavien Nowack is bringing back into the spotlight through strict single-parcel selections. Maceration of the black harvest requires twice-daily monitoring of the must in the vat. This level of precision echoes the approach used for this Nowack blanc de noirs interpretation. The specifications for these still reds impose particularly low yields, as defined by the appellation regulations. The winemaking of this still red thus illustrates the versatility of the Meunier grape, a variety capable of expressing two radically different styles depending on whether it is vinified as a sparkling or a still wine.
Through its winemaking and aromatic profile, this cuvée is not without parallels to another vintage blanc de noirs Meunier.
