Suenen - Champagne, France
Aurélien.
CHAMPAGNE SUENEN
The white dust is stirring in Champagne and a recently overturned chunk of chalk has unearthed a brilliant gem in the Côte des Blancs: the then 28 year-old Aurélien Suenen. Our travels that summer brought us knocking on his door, and we were so thrilled by his wines that we were poised to place an order before we walked back out.
We could say that Aurélien is wise and experienced beyond his years, but perhaps his age is precisely what led him down the less traveled of Champagne's dusty white trails. Aurélien received a head-start on his career that most of us not born into a family business don't experience. He was born with 114 years worth of Champagne soil in his blood. By age 18, his Champagne roots began tugging him away from his basketball dreams and he made the decision to merge with the path carved by his father and great grandfather. At 23 he was managing the vineyards and applying his own philosophy of low input, herbicide-free farming. A year later, his father passed away leaving Aurélien with the gift of his viticultural legacy and the knowledge he shared with him every day.
Aurélien speaks about his father's work in high regard. If not for his father's vision and dedication, Aurélien notes, he would not have the essential base to build from. At some point, however, Aurélien reached the end of the path well-trodden by his father's footsteps, just as his father had done himself while following his own grandfather's path when he was Aurélien's age. Today, Aurélien expresses gratitude as he continues along a new path, this one carved by his own two feet though deeply rooted by those whose footsteps led him there.
LESS TRAVELED
Aurélien's vision seems clear. He is a humble young vigneron and because of this he will not miss an opportunity to learn and grow. When he stepped into his father's role as head of the domain in 2009, he did not hesitate to make the changes he felt were necessary to carry through with his intentions to improve the vineyards and the wines. (In fact, we can go so far as to replace the word for "changes" with "sacrifices" in the previous sentence.) He is a proponent for the health of the soil: "I truly think that the organic element is my basic work tool and is therefore extremely valuable. Vine grows thanks to the energy found in soil and air. Brought to maturity, the greatly expected grapes will be picked in profusion at a precise moment." He hired France's famous soil analysts, Claude and Lydia Bourguignon, to learn more about the health and composition of his vineyards' soils and he has made necessary changes in order to promote the health of the soil, including the elimination of herbicides. His yields are significantly less than his neighbors, which is a more bold choice than it may seem within the real estate of the Grand Cru vineyards of the Côte des Blancs. Just consider: higher yields = more grapes, more grapes = more wine, more wine = more money. And when you can slap the words Grand Cru on your label, you'll most likely sell-out... at a not-so-low minimum price. We all understand that math.
Beyond lower yields, after 2012 Aurélien decided to effectively "let go" of half of his vineyards, thus reducing his total vineyard land from 4 hectares to 2. Why? Because his cellar is in Cramant (in the Côte des Blancs) where his most important vineyards are, and the other half of his land is up north in St. Thierry, too far to farm with the care he insists upon. Except for a few parcels of old-vine Pinot Meunier, he has opted to lease out his St. Thierry vineyards until he feels he can properly care for them.
Aurélien is making bold choices in the cellar too.
He does not hesitate to point out that he is still learning and experimenting. Well, if we know anything for sure after running a wine shop for 20 years, it's that these attributes are the guiding lights for the best winemakers we know. Rather than taking the torch and placing it in the same place his father kept it; and rather than going to viticultural school and replacing the knowledge his father shared with shiny new rules and theories, Aurélien has taken ALL he's been taught and discovered on his own and applied it in his own way. Take a look at the photo above. There are 5 different types of fermentation vessels including a large oak foudre, an enamel tank, a cement egg and an acacia barrel. To the right you can see the other wall where the élevage takes place in oak barrels, which Aurélien prefers because tartaric acid is able to build around the barrel walls and provide a protective layer between the oak and the wine. Currently, half of the fermentations are carried out with native yeasts and the other half using selected yeasts, as Aurélien feels he needs a bit more experience in seeing how the yeasts respond before going fully native. We were able to taste both versions from barrel; both yielded high remarks from our palates, though it was enlightening to taste the nuanced differences. Equally enlightening was tasting through the different barrels, each representing different parcels. We were able to compare, for instance, the fruit, power and structure of Cramant with the flowers and salt of Oiry (both villages in the Côte des Blancs). In the (near) future, due to his extensive soil work in the vineyards and focus on experimentation in the cellar, we will see single parcel bottlings from Aurélien demonstrating the characteristics of each place.
Pre-labeled tasting bottles during our visit @ Champagne Suenen
THE WINES
We are thrilled to have met Aurélien in the "early" days of his career and to be able to offer some of his range of beautiful, expressive and energetic wines. A Champagne grower with Aurélien's vision, passion and talent could not have remained a secret for long, and with just 2 hectares of vines it never takes long for Champagne drinkers in-the-know to gobble up the wines. As we said five years ago now: believe us when we say that NOW is the time to support this exceptional young vigneron by enjoying exclusive access (so far in the USA, this is it, folks!) to his wonderful wines. (Article by S.S.)
When in stock, wines from this producer appear below. Click on each wine for more detail.