Charles Dufour & Francoise Martinot Bistrotage FF.10

Charles Dufour & Francoise Martinot Bistrotage FF.10

Charles Dufour
$215.00

Grape: Pinot Noir 
Vintage: 2013
Type: Sparkling

Charles Dufour has expanded his production by personally farming his mother's family vineyards in the nearby Vallée de l'Arce. This expansion resulted in the Françoise Martinot and Bistrøtage labels, which offer zero-dosage, sulfur-free Champagnes from specific family plots. Charles Dufour's Françoise FF.10 is the most serious Champagne in the Dufour-Martinot lineup — single-parcel, long-aged Blanc de Noirs from the Françoise family vineyard in the Côte des Bar, 100% Pinot Noir, zero-dosage, no added sulfur. Aged on lees for a decade-plus before disgorgement, the wine drinks more like a Grand Cru white Burgundy than a typical grower Champagne: yellow apple, roasted hazelnut, wax, a saline finish with days of aftertaste. Distinct from the Bistrøtage series in being single-parcel rather than multi-parcel blended. One of the Côte des Bar's reference-grade natural-wine Champagnes.

 

Charles Dufour is a highly respected grower-producer of natural Champagne in the Côte des Bar region of southern Champagne, France. Taking over from his family in 2010, Charles quickly adopted organic and biodynamic farming practices, which are challenging in the region's climate. He is known for crafting authentic, terroir-driven Champagnes with a minimalist approach in the cellar. Dufour uses only native yeasts for fermentation, performs long lees aging, and adds minimal to no sulfur. The wines are unfined and unfiltered, expressing the purity of the fruit and terroir.