Domaine Vincey
Domaine Vincey is a new domaine run by a young couple, Marine Zabarino and Quentin Vincey.
Located in Grand Cru village of Oger, in the Côte des Blancs, Quentin Vincey returned to his family domaine in 2014. They met in Champagne (Marine is from Reims) and Marine joined Quentin in 2018, after working in communications for L’Oreal in Paris as well as several Champagne houses.
Quentin and Marine are young and ambitious, but understand the scale of time that it takes to create an exceptional domaine in Champagne. As with many young domaines, the vineyards are the primary focus. Vincey farms 8 hectares in total, most of which is in the same village as the winery, the Grand Cru of Oger. There are a few parcels in Les Mesnil and Vertus, but the heart of the estate is in the old, selection massale parcels in Oger.
Vincey is certified organic and will be Demeter certified biodynamic in the next two years. When it was unclear if Quentin would be able to purchase the current location of the domaine in Oger, he bought a 17th century Chateau in Villeneuve-Renneville called the Chateau de Renneville, 9 minutes from Oger, just south and west of the village. The Chateau serves as a working farm, and many of the biodynamic preparations are made there. Renneville is also well as a place to meet and to exchange with other biodynamic producers; Quentin and Marine count the De Sousa family in Avize, a pioneering biodynamic estate, as friends and mentors. While the production of wine at Vincey remains small for now, Quentin and Marine are farming and selling a majority of the fruit. In the future they will keep the very best parcels and expand production. In 2022 they will produce 25,000 bottles, increasing the production slowly.
In the cellar, grapes are pressed in traditional 4,000 kilogram basket press, completely without sulfur. After pressing and a short sedimentation, the must flows by gravity directly into the cellar. The vaulted cellar, pictured on the label, is quite cold and deep underground. The wines are fermented naturally and raised in French oak barrels from classic two-hundred-fifty liter barrique to five hundred liter tonneau. Each year Quentin and Marine add new casks to the cellar, with the most recent additions from Cavin and Atellier Centre France. In late Spring, the wines are tasted often, a busy time in the cellar. “We are checking and seeing where the development is headed. Intervention is not the plan here but seeing how each cask will fit into a larger blend and the particular character of each wine is important.” Says Quentin. Some wines will go through malo, others don’t. Some casks develop flor, a la Selosse and Chartogne. This biological aging is allowed to continue with the decision about how to make the blends for secondary fermentation in summer, when the wines are bottled in late July or August. At Vincey, the wines spend quite a long time on lees before remuage by hand and disgorgement.
These are excellent champagnes, unique in their interpretation of the terroir of Oger, which is often characterized as having an overt, ripe character, but lacking complexity. The wines of Vincey are energetic and have a profound density. The wines are and skillfully balanced between the savory concentration and delicious drinkability.