CHAMPAGNE DE SOUSA

CHAMPAGNE DE SOUSA Representing the third generation, Erick De Sousa Manages this 9.5 hectares champagne house since1986. It is located in avize, in the heart of the Côte des Blancs, on the most beautiful soils classified Grand Cru Chardonnay: Avize, Oger, Cramant, Le Mesnil sur Oger but also Pinot Noir located in Ay and Ambonnay. Engaged since many years in a Biologic growing process, the De Sousa house was certified in 2010, ensuring consumers of the quality of the product. One feature of the De Sousa house is to have kept many old vines over 50 years.

A philosophy.

Côte des Blancs has both an ideal orientation South / Southeast, maximum sunshine, but also and especially a chalky soil, providing  fine champagnes, elegance and minerality characteristics. Engaged since many years in a Bio growing process, the De Sousa house was certified in 2010 ensuring consumers of the quality of the product. It prohibits the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, weed killers, and uses instead natural active ingredients (plants and minerals) to protect the vines. This is to encourage them to deeply draw oligo elements which are specific to each terroir and to confer to each range of Cuvée its own character.

The expression of the terroir.

Love Erick of De Sousa for the land is visceral. Because he owes everything from it and knows more than anyone  that without it the champagne would not be what it is ... Summer and winter, under snow, frost, rain or shine, he brings to each parcel of his land, a unique care and rigor. For even less soil compaction, some of the vines are plowed with the horse. In the autumn season, some compost is made each year to strengthen micoryses. If the wine elaboration is a crucial step, the respect for the vines and the earth is the first priority for this family of wine growers whose sole purpose is to achieve to sublime champagne. These are the unique values ​​from generation to generation, who have left their mark on the Champagne De Sousa.

Love the Earth.

One feature of the De Sousa house is to have retained many old vines over 50 years, with some plots planted by the grandfather of Erick de Sousa, which are  nearly 70 years old. The advantage of old vines is to have much deeper roots (35 to 40 meters into the chalk) and thus get the minerality.  It also allows a natural soil management and gives more maturity and concentration to the grapes. From these old vines, Erick De Sousa made a Special Cuvée, The Cuvée des Caudalies (Caudalie is the unit of measurement of the length in the mouth for a wine (1 Caudalie equals 1 second).

A particular vineyard.

The “Cuvées de Prestige”, such as the Caudalies cuvée or the “Desirable cuvée” , from old vines over 50 years, are vinified in oak barrels of 225L  capacity.  This requires a considerable amount of vinification work: particularly for non-vintage cuvée Caudalies, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs: wine of the year is assembled with reserve wines from all our crops since 1995 (so for 12 mixed years). The wine is stirred regularly during aging in wood to give the fat and depth. The wine is not filtered and receives only a low intake of so2, indigenous yeasts are used for the first fermentation. The champagne will then improve on slats in our chalk cellars for 60 months to give him more “material” before it will be again "poignetté". The bottles will be manually shaken for the deposit in suspension to take place again in the bottle and to give more density to the wine. Others cuvées from the range have a different vinification process according to the origin of the grapes, the grape variety, the characteristics of the soil...     The Art of Winemaking.   All the care given to the viticulture, the wine making, the development of various vintages, prolonged aging etc… gave to the De Sousa house the honor to be selected by Andreas Larsson, Best Sommelier of the World 2007 and to receive the ALS label.

The family grows.

In February 2004, Erick De Sousa created the Zoémie De Sousa champagne. He had the opportunity to acquire 2,500 m2 of cellars in the center of Avize, so then Erick De Sousa could, through "Zoémie", his trading company, buy and vinify using the same methods. An opportunity that fans and customers will truly appreciate. Founder of Champagne De Sousa, the mother of Erick, Zoémie De Sousa has every reason to be proud of the "success story" of the dynasty.