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The Comité Champagne organised a series of blind tastings to find out whether and how the Piwi grape variety Voltis is suitable as a blending partner for Champagne. Around 700 experts tasted five cuvées. The experts gave the highest rating to a cuvée of 90 percent Chardonnay and ten percent Voltis, followed by a cuvée of five percent Voltis and 95 percent Chardonnay. The remaining wines tasted consisted of 100 percent Chardonnay, 100 percent Pinot Noir and 95 percent Pinot Noir and five percent Voltis.
In general, the blends with five per cent Voltis were described as rounder, simpler and more ready to drink, said Géraldine Uriel, head of the plant material and production department at the Comité Champagne. "They also get the best marks for typicity. However, we still lack data on blends with Pinot Noir, as we have made the first cuvées with Chardonnay. Trials with Meunier will also follow," Uriel explains. The grapes came from young plots and were vinified in small batches of 160 kilos at the Comité Champagne's experimental facility. The wines were bottled without dosage. "We have to be careful because we don't have much experience with ageability," said Géraldine Uriel.
Voltis, which is resistant to powdery and downy mildew, was approved by the Champagne PDO and the Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO) at the end of 2022. This makes it the first Piwi variety ever to be included in a French appellation. Over the next ten years, winemakers and technicians will decide whether the provisionally approved grape variety will finally be included in the catalogue or whether it will have to undergo further testing.
"With Voltis, but also with the other resistant varieties that will come soon, we are opening a new chapter in the history of Champagne", Géraldine Uriel emphasised.
(ru / Vitisphere)