Baron-Fuenté: Patience and Value

When I think of Champagne Baron Fuenté, I think of two things: patience and value. The brother and sister team of Ignace and Sophie Baron are fans of long ageing and deliver super quality champagne at extraordinary prices. They are located on the western edge of the Champagne region, in the small town of Charly-sur-Marne, and most of what we offer from them is estate grown by Sophie, who manages their vineyards. Only the “Grande Réserve” includes any purchased fruit, and all that fruit is purchased on the vine and picked by the Baron Fuenté team. The wines are made by Ignace Baron, who runs the cellar, and as you can see from the picture, would prefer to be back on the job!

 Our best value by a long shot in the champagne, or dare I say even sparkling category, is the Baron-Fuenté "Grande Réserve" Brut Champagne (Elsewhere $37) at $27.99. This wine is also available in 375ml for $14.99 and magnums for $54.99. This is aged for a full three years on the lees, 1/3 longer than Veuve Clicquot, and has a super generous 40% older vintages added to it as reserves. It is composed of 60% Meunier, 30% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir and vinified entirely in stainless steel. I have said many times to myself that I need to stop being surprised by the exceptional quality of this very fairly priced champagne. It has a perfect stream of tiny bubbles, and great balance between sour dough toast and subtle apple fruit. The finish is dry- right down the middle brut, but never austere. You must taste it to believe it!

One of the few bottles that can compete with the Grande Réserve for value at K&L is the Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Brut Champagne (formerly Esprit) at $34.99. The word “quinconce” in the local vernacular is for the way the bottles lie like sardines while they are ageing on the lees. The sound they make when you stack the bottles like this sounds like “keen-conce”… The Barons are very patient with how long they leave these, they are only disgorged after seven years of laying quinconce! The brut is a blend of one third each chardonnay, pinot noir and meunier, and comes entirely from their estate in Charly-sur-Marne. It has the high-class brioche, phenomenal texture and pin point bead that only this kind of patience in ageing provides. The only other non-vintage champagne that I can think of that is aged this long is Krug!

 The Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Brut Nature Champagne (formerly Esprit) , also $34.99, might just change your concept of what zero dosage champagne is all about. Because of the exceptionally long, seven-year ageing, this wine is bright and dry but does not have any austere features at all. The blend is the same as the Brut, but the chardonnay’s citric quality comes out more because of the lack of sugar.

 The single vineyard Baron-Fuenté "Quinconce" Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne (formerly Esprit) ($39.99) comes from a plot called the Chantemanche in Saacy, which is perhaps the westernmost vineyard in all of the region. It is so far west that it is no longer in the Marne, nor the Aisne, but instead in the Île-de-France, the same district as Paris! This is a toasty, creamy, generous blanc de blancs, and like the other Quinconce bottlings, gets a full seven years on the lees to develop a perfect fountain of tiny bubbles and a silky texture. This is a great aperitif champagne, a great bathtub champagne, and a perfect partner for the Brie de Meaux cheese that is made just a few miles away.

The lavishly bold and generous Baron Fuente "Quinconce" Brut Rosé Champagne (formerly Esprit) ($39.99) is half and half pinot noir and meunier and is made with all of the juice in contact with all of the skins for a dark color and full expression of wild fruit. This bottling is aged for five years- long for rosé- but a bit shorter than the others to preserve the fruit quality. It is a great partner for fruit desserts, or just for a glass by itself when you want a rosé champagne that doesn’t leaving you guessing if it is rosé or not when you taste it.

I hope that you will try these great champagnes- the price is not a big barrier to entry- and the quality will surprise you!

 A toast to you!

 -Gary Westby