Champagne André Jacquart The Purest Expression of the Côte des Blancs
As the great-grandchild of CIVC founder Maurice Doyard and the grandchild of André Jacquart, fifth-generation Marie Doyard has Champagne coursing through her veins. So, in 2004 when she took up the reins at her family’s estate — a récoltant manipulant established in 1958 in the Côtes des Blancs — she was eager to carry the family torch into a new era. And she has been quite busy ever since.
Marie brought the Jacquart and Doyard families together, establishing a new winery in Vertus in 2010, complete with state-of-the-art Coquard tilted plate presses. She also acquired a prime-sited pinot noir vineyard in Vertus, allowing her to add a rare rosé de saignée to the house’s range of blanc de blancs. Additionally, Marie oversaw the full conversion of the vineyards to sustainable farming and the estate became officially HVE 3 certified in 2019.
Eager to further leave behind her own legacy at Champagne André Jacquart, Marie also introduced a new, three-pronged approach in the winery: all base wines are fermented in Burgundian barriques with no malolactic fermentation (barrel vinification remains rather uncommon in Champagne); all cuvées have either very low or no dosage and are released as extra brut; and all wines enjoy a luxuriously long aging period.
These style choices are designed to shine the brightest possible light on the estate’s incredible terroir, showcasing the Premier Cru Vertus and the Grand Cru Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (for many, one of the finest in all Champagne). And the barrel fermentation not only contributes to better aging, it imparts an elegantly rounded edge that balances the grapes’ naturally racy acidity and sets Champagne André Jacquart wines apart.
The sleek, modern packaging — Marie’s conscious deviation from the more traditional labels favored by other houses — further elevates every bottle.
Thanks to the dedication of her pioneering ancestors and Marie’s focus on artisanal, modern winemaking, the future looks very bright for this historic Champagne house.
Terroir
Both the vineyards and winery of Champagne André Jacquart lie in Champagne’s celebrated Côte des Blancs. As the name implies, Côte des Blancs is well-suited to growing chardonnay, its signature white grape, which represents 97% of its plantings. The region’s trademark chalky soils retain moisture, providing vines with just the right amount of water and helping bring balance between the grapes’ acidity and sugar. In chardonnay specifically, the chalky soils confer a mineral vibrancy that has become synonymous with Côte des Blanc wines.
Marie’s family cultivates vineyards in two of the Côte des Blanc’s best crus. In 1908, Michel Jacquart purchased vineyards in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Ranked as Grand Cru in 1950, it’s considered one of the finest in Champagne and produces wines with a decidedly nervy, angular profile. Her family’s other vineyards lie in the Premier Cru Vertus, known for yielding rounded wines with a streak of lively minerality.
Viticulture
Champagne André Jacquart prides itself on its forward-looking ethos and upholds the greatest respect for the Champagne region’s special terroir. Since the estate’s creation, generations of Marie’s family have strived to manage the vineyards in a way that protects the environment. Under Marie’s leadership, the estate fully converted to sustainable viticulture and was officially certified HVE-3 in 2019.
The estate cultivates 18 hectares / 44 acres of chardonnay vines — many of which are over 50 years old — in the Grand Cru Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. The estate also owns an additional eight hectares / 19 acres of chardonnay vines and two hectares / five acres of pinot noir vines in the Premier Cru Vertus. Given the top-tier classifications and natural advantages of these crus, it should come as no surprise that Marie and her team have excellent grapes to work with, vintage after vintage.
Jacquart Champagne Presses into the Future
In 2010, with the construction of the estate’s new (and larger) Vertus-based winery, Marie was able to acquire two new Coquard tilted plate presses, giving Champagne André Jacquart another quality advantage. The presses work by turning the grapes over slowly and gently between each pressing cycle, thus allowing the best possible juice extraction.
