Today was our longest day as we headed south of Reims in the direction of Troyes. The destination was the Côte des Bars, in the Aube, the most southerly AC Champagne region and an area that gets less attention than the more densely planted areas around Reims and Epernay.
Our first stop was at Champagne Devaux which was originally based in Epernay and for many decades was run by a succession of Devaux widows.
In 1987 the last descendant decided to incorporate the Veuve Devaux estate with the Union Auboise, the Aube’s most important cooperative. The Groupe Vinicole Champagne Devaux was thus created and is responsible for 10% of the wine made in the Côte des Bars. Over 600 growers with 800 hectares of vineyards between them allow a wide range of wines to be produced.
The Devaux house is a very attractive building with a 17th century dovecote in the grounds and two hectares of manicured lawns and the Seine river bordering one side of the estate.
Cathy Mathieu hosted our visit and we took a brief walk around the property – no wine is made there so we quickly headed into the tasting room for a comprehensive look at their premium D range. This is a range I am quite familiar with and it did not disappoint. All the wines are labelled on a varying theme of the letter D and we worked our way through Cuvée D NV, Ultra D NV (lower dosage), Rosé D, Blanc de Blancs D and Millésimé 2016 D. With a price range of €50 – €70 this was a top class selection at very good prices.
From Devaux it was just a five minute hop to Champagne Gruet in the village of Buxeuil. Founded in 1670, the Gruet have run the estate for many generations as grape growers, it was in 1975 that they took a major decision to bottle under their own family name. The first production was a mere 2,000 bottles – in 2024 their production was 3 million bottles! An amazing success story.
They own 30 hectares of vineyard and source fruit from 300 more. We arrived and headed downstairs for a light three course lunch that had been prepared by a local restaurant – this was paired with three champagnes. We met Claude Gruet – the man who took that critical decision in 1975 – as well as Sabrina who took us round the gleaming pillars of stainless steel filled with reserve wine.
It was an extraordinary contrast of scale compared to our visits yesterday and gave us a great insight into the differences and qualities of the southern zone of Champagne. We rounded off our visit with a tasting of three wines that included a 100% Arbane – a rare grape and only 2,000 bottles made.
The bus was quiet on our journey home!
