Husband and wife team Olivier and Marie are making a name for the whole of Les Riceys, a small region in a lesser-known part of Champagne. They practice biodynamic viticulture and natural vinifications, releasing rosés, still wines, and Champagnes.
History
The Horiot family have owned vineyards in the three hamlets that constitute Les Riceys since the 1600s.
Olivier Horiot is the third generation of the family to subsist entirely from the vineyards alone, succeeding his father in 1999. He immediately began the conversion process from conventional farming to organic and then biodynamic practices. The majority of the grapes grown on Olivier’s 9 ha. are sold to the local cooperative.
Wine production and craftsmanship
Rosé de Riceys is one of only two AOCs for still wine production in Champagne (the other being Coteaux-Champenois). Total production for the entire AOC cannot exceed 70,000 bottles annually, and there are currently only 17 growers producing it.
Always made from the same grape variety, Pinot Noir, "our wines are linked to our village, which was sometimes Burgundian, sometimes Champagne over the past centuries", says Olivier Horiot.
They unearth from this committed craftsman the most interesting variation of Rosé des Riceys and Coteaux-Champenois (unfiltered), vinified locally to rediscover the vegetal vivacity and aromatic finesse of northern Pinot Noir, formerly largely produced in the region. Original and instructive cuvées, just like the small range of champagnes (Sève) typified by the generosity of this Aube monocru.