La Mignonnerie by R.Faivre is a champagne made entirely from Pinot Blanc, a rare and almost forgotten grape that Champagne grows in Belval-sous-Châtillon.
This vintage champagne is the first harvest from the plot whose name it bears, and the freshness of this terroir gives it a distinct tension. It is a cuvée built around white fruit, citrus and a floral note, with a generous, mouth-filling texture.
You can serve this bottle from the aperitif onwards, with Comté gougères for instance, then come back to it at the table with a sole meunière.
Le Terroir
La Mignonnerie 2023 is a Blanc de Blancs, which means it is made entirely from Pinot Blanc.
The Pinot Blanc comes from the Vallée de la Marne, where R.Faivre tends its vines.
La vinification
David Faivre, the grower at the helm of R.Faivre, chose to vinify this La Mignonnerie 2023, a white wine made from Pinot Blanc, in barrel. You can taste that decision in the glass: the oak lends toasty, woody notes and a roundness that coats the palate from the very first sip. The wine breathes slowly in contact with the wood, which softens its texture.
The dosage then brings the balance together. La Mignonnerie is an Extra Brut (a category that adds only a very small amount of sugar at the final stage): this restraint preserves the wine's tension and precision, and lets the fruit and the oak speak without artifice. The wine stays fresh and clean on the finish.
Le millésime 2023
In the Vallée de la Marne, 2023 was a vintage of contrasts. Spring frost stayed very limited, so the season got off to a good start. Summer brought rainfall well above average across part of the vineyard, which swelled the berries. Then the heat of late August carried them to full ripeness. Picking began in early September, with bunches of record weight. This abundance of juice, combined with the heat, produced ripe grapes with lower acidity than usual, and so a softer wine on the palate. For this Pinot Blanc, the vintage imparts a welcoming roundness and a distinct ripe fruit character.
