Micro-production Grower Champagne delivering HUGE value!
Even within the realms of grower Champagne, the production of Marie-Demets is miniscule. Pierre and Mathilde made fewer than 7,500 bottles of Intransigeance 2018 for the entire world, yet this artisanal Champagne from a single vintage sells for significantly less than basic Bollinger NV – a producer regarded as one of the ‘smaller’ Grande Marques but whose annual production is around 2,500,000 bottles!
The single vineyard, vintage, Blanc de Blancs are made in even smaller quantities. Just 1,284 bottles of La Foret 2018 and 1,359 of Fins.
These are brilliant Champagnes! The domaine is based in the Cote des Bar region, in the south of Champagne, and is actually closer to Beaune than it is to Reims. Here, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are grown on the same Kimmeridgian and Portlandian soils that are found in Chablis and the wines have a decidedly Burgundian accent.
Vinum’s first offer of Marie-Demets featured Intransigeance 2017, which was Neal Martin’s Sparkling Wine of the Year in 2022, and it sold out in double quick time. Today’s offer of the wine is from 2018 and I actually prefer it – the warmth and generosity of 2018 gives this a richer, fuller and less austere personality.
The single vineyards of La Foret and Fins supply both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that is blended to create Intransigeance and also feature as standalone Blanc de Blancs wines, showcasing their individual terroirs. These are fine-boned Vintage Champagnes, matured in 500-litre demi-muids barrels – for added mid-palate complexity and texture – and given only minimal dosage. They remind me of a bone dry and bracingly mineral Chablis – but with bubbles!
Champagne Marie-Demets represents everything we find so compelling about grower Champagne. Pierre and Mathilde are unassuming and humble grape growers. They work hard to hand-craft wines that translate their terroir into the bottle and sell them for extremely modest prices that make a mockery of how much care and effort is lavished on their production.
We could not be prouder to bring these Champagnes into Singapore and feature them in our portfolio.
With best wishes,
Matthew Hemming MW
The Offer:
Offered subject to remaining unsold. Immediately available from our Singapore cellars.
Champagne Marie Demets
Intransigeance L2018
SGD $390 ($425.10 inc GST) per case (6*75cl OC)
29 cases available
2018 vintage; disgorged December 2022; zero dosage; 67% Pinot Noir, 33% Chardonnay. 7,306 bottles produced. Blended from fruit from the Fins and La Foret single vineyards. Sweet blossom characters dominate the aroma, with notes of white flowers. Has a very delicate edge of patisserie and fresh bread. On the palate the generosity of 2018, bolstered by some weight and richness from lees, buffers the non-dosage profile. It’s a Champagne of precision and purity, with fresh green apple and some red berry tones emerging with air. Beautifully poised, with a very fine mousse giving an aerial, balletic quality to the texture. Perhaps a bit fuller than the 2017, there’s less austerity here but a lovely, generous, personality with huge pleasure for drinking now.
93/100 – Matthew Hemming MW
2018 La Foret
SGD $570 ($621.30 inc GST) per case (6*75cl OC)
13 cases available
Blanc de Blancs dosed at 1g/l and aged in 500L demi-muids. 1,284 bottles produced. Lovely nose of patisserie, blossom, citrus and a hint of almond paste. There’s an attractive play of earthiness and oak spice around the edges. Shows great balance between natural fruit sweetness and the low dosage – absolutely no austerity here. The mousse is silky and fine around the gums and there is a sense of inner sweetness on the mid-palate, which is almost creamy. Finishes with a note of mint or fennel and, throughout, there’s a sense of effortlessness.
93/100 – Matthew Hemming MW
2018 Fins
SGD $570 ($621.30 inc GST) per case (6*75cl OC)
19 cases available
1,359 bottles produced. Similar to La Foret, 100% Grand Cru Chardonnay, raised in demi-muids, but this is dosed at just 0.5g/l. Very discreet but also extremely precise and penetrating. Some attractive toasty / maillard / brulee notes come through with air and there’s an intriguing dark-toned element I wouldn’t expect from Blanc de Blancs. Explodes on the palate – this is seriously impressive: juicy fruit, vibrant acids, textural crunch but also unlooked-for depth. The profile is brilliantly compact and intense. Astonishing energy for the vintage. Vivid, incisive and full of tightly-coiled potential.
95/100 – Matthew Hemming MW
Multi Buy Bundle
One case of each wine:
Intransigeance L2018
2018 La Foret
2018 Fins
SGD $1,440 ($1,569.60 inc GST) per 18 bottle bundle
Clear as Mud?!
There was previously some confusion over the vintage status of Instransigeance. Technically it is not a Vintage Champagne, as Pierre does not give it the pre-requisite ageing. However, Intransigeance is made from the fruit of a single year, so neither is it an NV wine. To get around this we list it as L2018 as our current stock will bear a Lot Number identifying it as from the 2018 harvest.
Terms & Conditions
Offer ends on Wednesday 2nd Octobrt 2024 l No further discount l Immediate payment required l Delivery fees ($32.72) waived for purchases above $500 before GST excluding airports | Cancellation of orders not allowed l Orders to be collected/delivered within 3 months upon stock availability l Offered Ex-Singapore & subject to remaining unsold
