Jean Marie de Champs with her Rose Guy Charlemagne Champagne
On a recent visit to Burgundy for the Hospice du Beaune I was so delighted to meet one of its top negociants, Jean-Marie de Champs of Domaines et Saveurs Collection. If you love fine wine - yet have never been to Burgundy - your second surprise might be the contrast between the simple rural landscape juxtaposed to the price of its highest quality cru wine. Though Burgundians clearly enjoy fine wine and cuisine, its culture is almost the antithesis of glamorous, upscale, yet rather superficial Paris.
Now your first surprise might be the absolute passion of its residents for the quality of its wine, and their open and generous nature. Over the course of the Hospieces de Beaune auction weekend, this was demonstrated to me time and time again. Villagers eagerly took part as spectators and participants in the many complimentary events surrounding the auction weekend, which included native folk dancers in clogs to strong young men (sorry female sommeliers) engaged in a contest designed to see who could open a bottle of wine the fastest. Everyone in the region seemed to show up that festive Saturday afternoon to enjoy the fruit of their collective historical labor.
Guests at Jean Marie's party
During this weekend, I was also a guest of a dinner put together by Jean-Marie de Champs, owner of Domaines et Saveurs Collection (you can read the producers she represents below). I have not yet met Kermit Lynch, author of: Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France. Yet I loved his colorful stories of people he encountered in the course of his wine adventures.
Being a guest at Jean-Marie's house was similar in terms of hearing her stories and meeting her guests. Jean-Marie represents top growers, and I had a chance to ask her about how she started in the business and how she chooses her growers.
Jean-Marie: " I was in the marketing business when I got married and moved to Burgundy. I decided to learn about the vineyards and started my own business in the early nineties. As a negociant I look for good farmers -- if you work your land well on top soil you can have the best grapes. When you have the best grapes winemaking is easy and natural. I look for winemakers who use natural yeast and do not rush the wine. It is good to have the wine as natural as possible. The wine decides how it is to be handled."
Guests seated for dinner
Jean Marie: "As for this Hospieces de Beaune, it is the largest charity auction in world. For me, it is an opportunity to be part of the history and tradition. I bought my first cuvee in 1983. We try to get the wine for friends, customers -- it is a long process. We think of this wine as our children, and try very hard to find the right tenders (producers who will mature the wine in oak)."
Indeed, everyone in Burgundy at the auction was very keen to bid, because it represents a keen opportunity for bidders without their own vineyards to play winemaker -- choosing the wine they like from the barrel, choosing the producer they trust to "raise" the wine and care for it through the bottling stage, and even choosing the label.
These images are from the dinner party at Jean-Marie's apartment in Beaune. It was a very warm and intimate space literally across the street from a small, fashionable inn I stayed at a few years back -- right in the center of the tiny city. And as usual for Beaune, the night was misty with fog and rain that splashed rhythmically on the cobblestone streets.
Below are some fine vintages Jean-Marie served -- either representing the producer or buying them at auction and having one of her producers tender them. These were served after we enjoyed many bottles of Guy Charlemagne rose champagne..
CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET CHENEVOTTES 2005 CHATEAU DE LA MALTROYE
Below are several cuvées Jean-Marie served which she bought at the Hospices de Beaune
#MEURSAULT GENEVRIERES CUVEE BAUDOT, 2000
#MEURSAULT GENEVRIERES CUVEE BAUDOT 2001
*MEURSAULT GENEVRIERES CUVEE PHILIPPE LE BON 2007
*CORTON DOCTEUR PESTE 1998
*VOLNAY SANTENOTS CUVEE JEHAN DE MASSOL 2000
*POMMARD CUVEE BILLARDET 2003 + 1999
The wines with a *star* were bought at past Hospieces de Beaune and been finished for her by Meo Camuzet, and
the 2 first wines with a #hash# were bought at auction and finished by Marc Colin et ses fils
NUITS SAINT GEORGES 1ER LES DIDIERS CUVEE JACQUES DURET 2006 HOSPICES DE NUITS
NUITS SAINT GEORGES 1ST CRU LES DIDIERS CUVEE FAGON 2000
MAZIS CHAMBERTIN 2003 DOM. NADDEF
GRIOTTES CHAMBERTIN 2005 DOM. R. LECLERC
BIENVENUES BATARD MONTRACHET 1999 from P. PERNOT
Jean-Marie can be contacted at contact@ds-collection.com. In the coming months I hope to have some mini-interviews or reports about these producers and their thoughts about the 2009 vintage.
Related Posts:
Discovering Pleasures of Burgundy
Tasting Fun in Beaune
Hospieces de Beaune Weekend: Part 1
Discovedring Beaune
Building Buzz: How To Reach And Impress Your Target Audience
Creating Characters: Let Them Whisper Their Secrets
