A. Margaine is a tiny grower-producer, or recoltant-manipulant, in the villages of Villers in the Montagne de Reims in Champagne.  They produce about 4600 cases total, which is split between 5 cuvées (Special Club is the most limited), from 6.5 hectares of vines within Villers.

On it’s own, Villers is special, because it is a village that is mostly planted to Chardonnay in the Montagne de Reims, which is traditionally planted almost exclusively to Pinot Noir.  Margaine’s vineyards break down to about 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir.  The soil here is natural Chardonnay soil, with about a meter of clay, then limestone chalk, which is Chardonnay’s happiest home.  But A. Margaine has long produced superior wines, even among the other small Chardonnay growers in the village.  Certainly it is their attention to detail, and their desire to keep up with the current mode of winemaking (they have recently stepped back from a perhaps overly trendy reduction in dosage, that produced mixed results).  But there is also something special about Margaine’s winemaking that captures perfectly the unique blend of tropical showiness and racy minerality that makes Villers Champagne so special.

Special Club is a unique designation that is shared by a small group (26) of the best grower-producers in Champagne, who joined forces in 1971 to promote grower-producer Champagne in the face of the dominant negociants like Veuve Clicquot and Moët Hennessey, who had convinced the world that blended, mass-produced  Champagne was the true essence of Champagne.  The group was originally called Club des Viticulteurs Champenois, but changed their name to Club Trésors de Champagne in 1999.  Members of the club may produce a wine called Special Club, which is entitled to a unique label and bottle shape that is only available to club members.  In order for a wine to qualify, among other things,  it must be a vintage Champagne from the grower’s vineyards (RM producers are allowed to use up to 15% grapes from other vineyards in their other wines), that is aged for a minimum of 3 years in the bottle, and is tasted and approved by the Club’s panel both in compenents before it is blended and immediately after disgorgement, prior to release.    This wine often represents the best wine that these small producers make.

2000 A. Margaine Special Club was disgorged in September of 2008 (so that’s eight years on tirage, comparable to, say, Krug).  It is a blend of roughly 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir.  80% of the grapes come from the 34 year old vines on Margaine’s Allouette parcel.  The wine falls to the dry side of Brut, and, rare for Margaine, went through Malo-lactic fermentation because of the intense acidity of the 2000 vintage.  This is a Caviar wine if ever there was one, but is also great with sashimi, and Vietnamese food.  Drink it now – 2017.