Loriot-Pagel Brut Special Club Champagne 2015

The honor of putting ‘Special Club’ on your label requires painstaking attention in both the vineyard and the cellar. But to even be considered a Club Trésors de Champagne member, Champagne’s only organized committee, demands details not for the faint of heart. Today, it holds 24 members. A panel of experts must vote you in, and your domain must have a winemaker who grows and tends to their own grapes on their own land and has total control over farming and winemaking practices. Sounds like a straightforward ask, but this is not common in Champagne. The region is so cold that committing all of your production to estate bottlings is risky. It is a much surer bet to sell and trade fruit in tide with the growing season’s highs and lows. The Club Trésors de Champagne producers are artisans and risk-takers, and each Special Club bottle should be considered a work of art. Let us introduce you to one such masterpiece!

First founded by Jules Leopold Loriot in 1838, Loriot~Pagel is an exceptional Champagne grower-producer who has raised many winemakers in the village of Festigny. Due East of Paris, the greater region of Vallée de la Marne is defined by the Marne river that runs through it. It was along these banks that Joseph Loriot grew up. Now the sixth-generation winemaker at the helm of his family’s legacy, Joseph is adapting ancestral practices taught by his grandfather to modern-day winemaking practices. The result is a charming looking glass into the vineyard of generations past with a clean, balanced, and fresh palate. 

The majority of Loriot~Pagel’s holdings are Pinot Meunier, the dominant grape in the Vallée de la Marne. Their special club is 100% Meunier, and Joseph has put an intricate and delightful spotlight on this largely underappreciated varietal. Rich, structured and full-bodied, this Champagne boasts notes of cherries, cocoa beans, citrus, and honey.