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VOUETTE-AND-SORBEOUS

Winemakers: Héloise, Hélène, and Bertrand Gautherot
Region: Champagne
City: Buxières-sur-Arce
Grape varieties Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Winery area Winery 5 ha
Annual production: 25,000
Certifications: AB, Ecocert, and Demeter

Who are Vouette and Sorbée?

We're talking to you about his Winery

“Where conventional farming requires eight days of antibiotics through fertilizers and pesticides, biodynamic farming treats the problem naturally in two hours,” says Bertrand Gautherot of Winery et Sorbée (Aube). “I wanted to return the vineyard to its natural state and accept whatever it would give me.” Bertrand used to be a product designer in the luxury goods industry. In 1993, he returned to his home region—a wine-growing region he considered to be the most heavily chemically treated in the world! A luxury product treated like never before? And what about its image?! Bertrand Gautherot made a radical shift and stopped all treatments. Of course, bottling wine was out of the question. At first, along with his wife Hélène, they grew grapes—but organic grapes—which they took to the cooperative (AB certification and in the process of converting to biodynamic farming since 1998). Their cows produce compost, nettle infusions stimulate the vines, copper or silica misting is used to treat them, a beautiful horse plows the soil, and fruit trees have been reintroduced… “We’re working with micro-doses—it’s homeopathy applied to plants,” explains the winemaker. In 1999, a visit from Anselme Selosse (Jacques Selosse Champagne)—a role model and mentor—inspired them to start making their own wine and bottling it themselves. Bertrand replanted—not Pinot Noir, but Chardonnay—on the advice of Claude Bourguignon (who pointed out that his terroir was similar to that of Chablis), and in 2001 he left the cooperative to release his first vintage: “Fidèle” (100% Pinot Noir). Then, in 2003, “Saigné de Sorbée” (a rosé described as a “long infusion of Pinot Noir, almost like herbal tea”), followed in 2004 by “Blanc d’argile” (100% Chardonnay). The Winery approximately 5 ha, with a maximum production of 25,000 Cols! The grapes are hand-harvested at full ripeness over a three-week period, and a vertical wooden press (known locally as a “coquard”) is used for pressing. The juice flows by gravity into 400-liter barrels. Fermentation takes place with native yeasts, using very little sulfur (total SO₂ between 20 and 40 mg/L). In good years, he adds barely 20 grams of sugar during bottling to create the carbonation and the famous bubbles. However, there is no dosage here; the champagnes from Maison et Sorbée (named after Winery two climats) are extra-brut.

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