Nowack Attack! New Champagne Releases from a Star in the Making

Though it’s a bit of a truism at this point, for a region dominated by big houses and co-operatives, the grower revolution in Champagne over the last 20-30 years is still remarkable as the new generation(s) continue to improve and refine viticulture, explore individual terroirs, and expand on the possibilities of the wines. The forebear of this is certainly Anselme Selosse, whose bottling of specific parcels and perpetual cuvées inspired dozens of growers and still bears fruit today with young Champenois as they take over their families’ vines and cellars.

One of the brightest young stars is Flavien Nowack who seems to be endlessly curious as well as fantastically devoted to terroir. I first tasted his wines and vins clairs at the Des Pieds et Des Vins tasting in Reims, where he not only distinguished himself with the character of his wines, but by also showing the unfermented grape must alongside his vins clairs and finished Champagnes so one could taste the terroir from base material to final wine. His friends and colleagues in the Pieds et des Vins group Agnés Corbon and Sébastien Mouzon describe him as a man who is as driven to explore the history of Champagne as he is inspired by the terroirs of his family’s parcels on the right bank of La Grande Vallée de Marne.

Located in Vandières with vines Châtillon-sur-Marne, Champagne Nowack has roots dating back to 1795 (per Peter Liem’s indispensable ChampagneGuide.Net). The family began grape farming in 1850. Flavien started making his own Champagnes under Domaine Nowack while converting the vineyards to organic viticulture and bottling individual parcels. His primary fermentations are with native yeasts, in vat and barrel without chaptalization. The secondary fermentation (prise de mousse) is with grape must rather than selected yeasts and liqueur, and the parcellaires are aged under cork, rather than crown cap. Extended lees-aging results in an ultra-fine bead and lithe palate. And in a shocking twist, in his sulfur-free bottling Les Arpents Rouge, the vin clair is not topped off and allowed to develop a voile or flor much like the oxidative whites from the Jura. The resulting Champagne is a fascinating, savory wine with great umami character to accompany the red fruit and citrus oil flavor profile. It’s been a great pleasure enjoying Flavien’s growth and we are delighted to feature his wines.

-John McIlwain