Champagne Tange-Gérard

Welcome to our world of champagne

2011-08-26T12:31:00.003+02:00

Step by step we would like to invite you on a journey into the passionate world of champagne.

We have just finished the grapeharvest of 2011 in our plots with beautiful sunshine and grapes to match. At the moment the musts ferment into wine.

Our team this year was a great mix of French, Danes and half-of-each. More than ever the vendange thus reflected our origins and worlds. A difference that we try to bring together in our Tange-Gérard champagnes.

Now the wines of 2011 will not be available any time soon. We like champagne better aged. At the moment we sell blends from mainly 2006 and vintages from 2004. Please phone or send us a few words if you are curious.

We want our bubbles to make your world spin in an easy-going, funny fashion. Just a while.

Enjoy, Alain Gérard and Solveig Tange.

About Alain Gérard

2009-09-29T22:34:00.002+02:00

We bind the branches of the vines before they grow.

"Why would you want to do something else, when you can do this every day?" No, actually, why bother? The idea was already present somewhere in Alain Gérards mind for a long time. His former collegue from England just happened to be the first to put it in words.

About one year later Alain finally decided to step into it. Stopped his career as a manager of the French daughter company of the English Higgins Group. Specialised in potatoes he’d operated all over Europe for more than 15 years. For a long time with this wish to return to the roots, the family vineyards, once he’d seen and learned enough about the world of potatoes.

The vineyards begin a stone’s throw from the family farm. Alain has learned about it since childhood. From his mother whom he had to follow from small age, and from his grandfather and uncle. Thus he learned it all the old fashioned way, where one generation transmits its know-how to the next as it has been done in the countryside for centuries. Alain listened to it all.

Today however, he combines it with his own thinking. A logic, that combines his higher engineering education from ESAP: Ecole Superieure d’Agriculture de Purpan in Toulouse and the experience obtained through the work with farmers all over Europe for so many years.

In 1997 he took over the first of a number of family vineyards to become a weekend winegrower in Champagne. With the next plot in 2006 the total acreage was more than one hectare, and the idea to become a fulltime winegrower moved closer. In 2009 the old dream finally became reality.

Alain Gérard in a coffee-break at the grapeharvest in 2008.

Our terroirs in Champagne

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The vineyards of Champagne are small, these are situated between the villages Soulieres and Givry-les-Loisy.

The vineyards of Champagne are small. With an average size of just 12 ares or the equivalent of 1200 square meters, these vineyards are in fact the smallest average in France. Each time they are passed on from one generation of winegrowers to the next, they become even smaller. Ours are no exception.

Alain and his two sisters own three hectares of mainly Chardonnay- and Pinot Meunier-grapes and a little bit of Pinot Noir on top. These vines have all been planted from the beginning of the 1960’es and into the 1980’es which gives them an age between 30 and 50 years. Considerable in Champagne where the average is 35 years. Our vines however still supply a sufficient amount of high quality grapes.

Our plots are situated in three different places in the communes of Souliéres and Givry-les-Loisy and Loisy-en-Brie just outside the Côte des Blancs-region near another terroir known as the Val du Petit Morin.

The plots are Les Crochettes, Belles Feuilles and Vieilles Grandmeres.

They are all placed on the côte above Vertus. This slope follows a north-south and later an east-west direction in a height of 250 meters above the sea. At its feet the farmed land of a vast plain begins, the Champagne Crayeuse.

All the vineyards will eventually be replanted in the next decades as we will take over the daily work in the last two hectares that currently are explored by a cousin. This will also be the opportunity to analyse the contents of the soils in order to decide if and where we can do our own single plot champagne.

The view from the plots of the Vieilles Grandmeres towards the flat Champagne Crayeuse.

Selection makes the world your oyster

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The bubbles of this vintage champagne are small and fine

Selection is the absolute top of our champagne range. A champagne that represents the most sophistiquated quality this region has to offer. An old vintage champagne made with selected grapes, in this case 100 % Chardonnay.

We choose these white grapes with greatest care. Only from the very best plots amongst our group of growers and only in years where the important balance between acidity and sugar is simply perfect. This provides an extraordinary high quality of grapes, a crucial basis to achieve the wanted level of quality. Still wines that hold promising scents and tastes from their very beginning. Where all extraordinary champagnes start. Further a vinification with utmost care and the extreme importance of age. No vintage champagne can be younger than three years, the current Selection is already more than double.

Still wines of Champagne are usually rather acid. The Selection still wines are no exception, but they will spend so many years in the cave that this surplus acidity will diminish naturally. We take our time to see this jewel of our gem develop its full potential. The malolactic fermentation that is often used to remove some acidity is blocked to help the still wines keep their juvenile beaty. The years in the caves let Selection transform into this rich type of champagne. A true reward of scents and tastes of fruits that are preserved more fully.

This is a Blanc de Blancs that provides you the full range of the wonders of Chardonnay-grapes. A fine nose with scents of yellow fruits like abricots and Mirabelle-plums as well as a sweetness that in French is referred to as Pate de Fruit. Along with the sugar you discover a sensation of grill or toast - Torrefaction. A sensation that truly reveals a well-matured champagne since it develops only with time as the wine ages in the caves.

As you continue to sip the wine, turn it around in your mouth before you finally swallow. You will experience a surprisingly powerful and yet delicate wine. Fruity and buttery and with the sweet sensation of pastries returning to your palate. A pleasant mineral sensation will round off with a freshness that occupy your mouth for quite a while before it finishes off this dome of different scents and tastes with an elegant finish of lemon.

Selection is dosed very low with just 8 grams of sugar per litre of wine.

You will not taste Selection before it has spend at least five years in its amber-coloured bottle with pretty engraved grapes. With the right cellar you may want to keep the current vintage of 2002 for another five-ten years to get the most of an already special wine.

You may find the brown colour of our vintage champagne of selected plots in the vineyards as the young branches harden into real wood in the months after the grapeharvest.

The grand tradition of Champagne is to blend

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Our champagne matures in the cave in boxes like these.

Our Tradition is a champagne, that represents a long time art in Champagne: The tradition of blending. White base wines of different plots, vines and vintages are mixed and fermented in bottles followed by a slow maturation in cool caves. The Methode Champenoise.

The blend reflects the tradition and terroir of the growers. Our group of growers is based in the village of Vertus in the Côte des Blancs, where Chardonnay is king. The blend thus contains at least 90% white Chardonnay-grapes and up to 10% red Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Up to 10% of the Chardonnay wines will be older reserve wines, that are added to the blend to preserve the same style of taste year after year. This is also why the exact percentages of the blend may vary slightly between the years.

We like our champagnes mature, and we usually sell our Tradition not younger than five years. Our current Tradition is made with base wines from 2004. It combines the freshness and elegance of the Chardonnay-grape with some body and structure brought by the Pinot grapes.

Due to age, more complex aromas have partly replaced the fresh fruits of a younger champagne. You may find notes of yellow fruits like apricot, Mirabelle plum and peach as well as volatile scents of fine flowers on the nose. A distinct taste of age that some describe as mushrooms and others as soil or forest takes over before a pleasant yet fresh finale will stay in your mouth for a while.

A bit of sugar dissolved in some reserve wine is used at dosage to top up the bottle after an inevitable loss of a few centilitres of champagne at the disgorging, that follows the many months of maturation in the caves. With just 9,5 grams of sugar per litre of wine our dosage is rather low for a brut.

Tradition will fit your aperitif amongst friends perfectly as well as serve as an icebreaker at a bigger party. It will accompany your meals with white fish or seafood as well.

The Tradition exists in a Demi-Sec version too. This sweet champagne will fit your dishes with foie gras and desserts as long as they are not too sweet.

The vine is pruned in order to secure a number of the fertile one-year old branches.

About Solveig Tange

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Solveig removes surplus buds and branches, the ébourgeonnage and épamprage of May and June.

As a Dane Solveig Tange knew no more about champagne than most people when she arrived in the region of Champagne in 2003: 1) If somebody buys you champagne you get a special treat. 2) Quality champagne is likely to make you feel good fast. Her horizon widened considerably as she decided to get deeper involved in the work with the grapes.

She had already had her first rendez-vous with the grapes in 2002. One day of vendange is not much but it was enough to understand that the only way you can join this special world of vineyards and wines is to do it yourself. Her first full grape harvest was in 2004. Two years later she passed her pruning exams - a proud moment indeed - and since very useful as well.

The process of pruning is long and hard. From January to the month of March each vine is manually reduced to very little to maintain the health of the plants. Later surplus buds will be removed, the new branches bound and surplus branches removed and the rest rearranged along the wires. The work in the vineyards follows the seasons and provides simple pleasures of the open air. Nature as it is: Always the same, yet constantly changing.

Originally trained as a journalist, she came from a world of words. What could be more natural than to nail this new perspective of life with her poetic approach? A book about champagne from her perspective in the vineyards is on its way, and the blog about the work in the vineyards spiced up with photos, local angles and news from the business ensures her daily need of telling it all.

Since 2009 the Champagne Tange-Gerard label has made a big dream come true. It is the end of story of the grapes, but also where it all basically begins. The story of champagne begins in the vineyards and ends in the glasses, and everything in between is worth telling in words and try in tastes. This is all about selling a wine of course, but it is also about exchanging a passion. This is where everybody who likes or may like champagne can meet on common ground and talk about it. Here in Champagne or wherever you are. You may even like Solveig discover that the more you taste and talk, the bigger your envy to taste even more.

Cooperatives changed the champagne world forever

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The cooperative movement in Champagne has made winegrowers more independent than before. We elaborate our champagnes with a group of winegrowers from the same area. Like us, most of them own a few hectares of vineyards but most only run around half a hectare or less. When we join forces and grapes we can use equipments in a more efficient way and we can blend more wines with a final higher and more stable quality than from just one.

Most are based in the village of Vertus, others in neighbouring communes like Bergeres-les-Vertus and our own commune of Soulieres. In total grapes from 147 hectares are pressed and fermented into wines. This is enough to fill more than one million bottles of the standard size of 75 centilitres every year.

Our cooperative was founded in 1959. 30 years after it all began. The starting point of the movement was the great depression in 1929. Champagne sales dropped dramatically. The stocks of the champagne houses grew bigger, and the prices of grapes smaller. In the beginning of the 1930’es the grapes were so cheap that it was hardly worth it for the winegrowers to pick them up. At this stage some decided to press and ferment themselves rather than sell grapes at a loss. The wine and eventually the champagne could be sold.

The movement spread. Today 137 champagne cooperatives are supplied by 13.000 winegrowers. One fifth of these sell their own brand of champagne. Like us.

Today the services of our coop include the full chain of champagne making: Pressing, winemaking, bottle fermentation and aging with state-of-the-art equipment to fit all possible needs. On top, the knowledge of how the still wines and champagnes develop at different stages from young to mature and aged. Indispensable for the art of blending as the heart of champagne is the olfactory and gustatory memories of the winemakers.

Each year we work in this small committee of winegrowers who meet regularly in the autumn to taste and discuss the new still wines with the winemaker. We select those that will fit our needs in the required quantities for each future blend. The surplus is sold to several champagne houses. In February we progress and discuss – at times rather fiercely – the new possible blends. This is when the style of our champagnes is decided.

So far we can fit our own needs into the possibilities offered. Our grapes are present with those of the other coop growers in order to elaborate high quality blends and select the best plots for special champagnes.

Our ambition is to add pure Tange-Gérard plots to our current range of products when we have had the necessary time to evaluate the wines that can be elaborated with them. This is a process that will take a bit of time and it will later combine with sustainable winegrowing which is also part of our thinking.

Vieilles Grandmeres

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The plot - lieu-dit - of Vieilles Grandmeres is situated five kilometres further south on the other side of the village of Loisy-en-Brie. As for the old name of the fields we can all just wonder about the origins of it.

These vineyards are placed on slopes that almost form a shape of a semi-bowl facing southeast.

They have gradually been planted by Alain’s mother and cousin between the 70’s and the 80’s. One half is planted with Chardonnay and the other half with Pinot Meunier-grapes.

The topsoil is clayey in the upper part of these vineyards. Less than a metre deeper begins the layer of typical Champagne chalk that supplies the wines with the mineral touch, so special for this region. It radiates the warmth of the sun and it diverts the water as well.

These richer soils have a tendency to give a stronger growth of the plants. We therefore have to prune harder in the winter and remove surplus buds, branches and even grapes in spring and summer to ensure a perfect early maturation of the remaining grapes.

You will find this vineyard just outside the Côtes des Blancs-region in a terroir known as the Val du Petit Morin on the slope - côte - above Vertus in a height of 250 meters above the sea. At its feet the farmed land of a vast plain begins, the Champagne Crayeuse.

Photos: The grapeharvest of 2011

Belles Feuilles

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The plot - lieu-dit - of Belles Feuilles is situated between the communes of Soulieres and Givry-les-Loisy.

This plot covers both sides of a soft slope that faces east and thus it gets a maximum amount of sun from the early morning until sunset.

It is orientated east-west and thus gets a maximum amount of sun from the early morning until the sun sets. The chalk is not far from the surface, which drains the land the way vines like it.

Our part of it is planted with Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay by Alain's grandfather in the late 1960'ies.

Despite their considerable age these vines produce grapes of a very good quality. This vineyard naturally produces just enough branches and leaves for the vines and grapes to grow and still see a maximum of the sun.

The grapes usually reach a deep black colour that make them very suitable for the local red wine for the Rosé d’Assemblage as well as for the Rosé de Saignée champagne which receives its deep colour from the skin of black grapes like those of the Belles Feuilles-plot.

You will find this vineyard just outside the Côtes des Blancs-region in a terroir known as the Val du Petit Morin on the slope - côte - above Vertus in a height of 250 meters above the sea. At its feet the farmed land of a vast plain begins, the Champagne Crayeuse.

Summer, winter and grapeharvest in the Belles Feuilles-plot.

Les Crochettes

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Grapeharvest 2009 in Les Crochettes, Soulieres.

The plot - lieu-dit - of Les Crochettes is situated in the commune of Soulieres just below the village itself and only about 100 metres away from the farm.

It is on a smooth slope facing east where the chalk is more than one meter away from the surface in its lower part.

Alain’s grandfather has planted it with Chardonnay and a little bit of Pinot Noir at the beginning of the 1960’ies.

It may get the morning dew of the autumn as well as the potentially dangerous frost of spring, which is why the low part is planted with the late Pinot Noir-grapes rather than the early Chardonnay-grapes.

You will find this vineyard just outside the Côtes des Blancs-region in a terroir known as the Val du Petit Morin on the slope - côte - above Vertus in a height of 250 meters above the sea. At its feet the farmed land of a vast plain begins, the Champagne Crayeuse.

Invite your inner angel out to sing

2009-09-27T22:47:00.001+02:00

The must looks like this as it flows into open tanks under the pressoir.

When perfectly ripe for champagne the skin of the Chardonnay-grape is neatly decorated with little black dots. It develops a yellowish colour that remains influenced by the acid green of summertime. This is why our Blanc de Blancs champagne – made of pure Chardonnay-grapes – is labelled like this. We wanted it to look like the mature grape, that has made the Côte de Blancs one of the famous regions of Champagne.

Our Blanc de Blancs champagne is no exception to the rule of excellence of Chardonnay-grapes from this area. They are still acid when we pick them up at the grape harvest. The still wines are no exception. But we’ve got time to wait. The second fermentation – Methode Champenoise – followed by the wonders of the caves. Time basically. Good champagne is a slow starter. And even slower when a born millésime like this Blanc de Blancs from 2002.

A vintage champagne like this holds such a distinctive personality of its own that makes you keep it away from the traditional mixing with older years to achieve a great result. The wines made from the various Chardonnay plots are already superior on their own.

2002 was a year that allowed the grapes to mature very well. A rather good level of acidity and aromatic and expressive Chardonnay-grapes that our group of growers decided to blend to create this elegant vintage champagne with butter on the nose as well as the palate. A typical mark from the Chardonnay of Champagne as well as the toasted bread or the finale of white flowers.

When you sip, you may even notice a certain sweetness as you let the wine fill your mouth. Some would liken this sensation with sweets, the French refer to it as Confiserie. It is a sweetness that relates to the long aging of the champagne. Yet there is more to come. This Blanc de Blancs is certainly still upright and tight. A wine that will develop further during some years with the correct conditions. But already now you can discover this great wine.

The Blanc de Blancs 2002 is a very good choice for an aperitif. For occasions where you plan to take your time to taste and share the sensations of a great wine with family, friends or workmates. Nothing puts more value to the special moments of your life than wines with carefully chosen dishes or snacks to match. This Blanc de Blancs 2002 will even accompany your party nicely at the table and reveal itself as an excellent match for your dishes of seafood or white fish.

The dosage – a bit of sugar dissolved in some base wine and used to top up the bottle at disgorging time - is as low as 8,5 grams of sugar per litre which leaves it within the range of a brut that ranges from 7 to 15.

The Chardonnay-grape is mature when its colour begins to change from green to a transparent yellow, dotted with small, black spots.

Like our labels?

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We do.

They look different than most labels for champagnes, probably due to the fact that the basic design is made in Denmark where less is usually more.

The design of the label has been developped with journalist Marianne Engelbrechtsen and the spacing between letters discussed with designer and artist Peter Ravn.

The star we found in the village, it links us with our terroir.

The colours come from nature itself as the seasons change and the vines and vineyards follow along. Find the colour of the labels here

Twinkle twinkle

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The star on our labels is what visibly links us with the village of Soulières.

Where the vines are.

Where the family is.

Where our company is based.

Where we work

It is part of a weathercock that is placed on top of the church tower on top of the village as well.

See our star twinkle on our champagne labels here.

Think Pink and invite a Saignée to your meal

2009-09-25T22:58:00.000+02:00

We glue all labels manually in the dining room of the grape harvest.

Pink is a long time Champagne tradition. When you make it the Saignée way however you give your rosé a twist at the same time. A champagne made in the purest tradition and yet both rethought and then remade. Like producers of champagne through centuries have continued to reinvent their product in new ways.

Forget about blending to achieve a certain colour: This rosé champagne bleeds to receive its disturbingly deep pink nuance. In French saigner simply means to bleed. The best of the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are placed in a vat where the skin of these red grapes will be allowed to macerate for up to 36 hours. As long as necessary for this otherwise white and maiden must to redden and blush into the more dramatic colour of the Saignée.

Only the wine that runs naturally when grapes on top of other grapes press these naturally – the Vin de Goutte - will later ferment as a red wine. The first fermentation takes place in steel vats and the second will occur in the bottles where it develops into the final Rosé de Saignée champagne. Of a colour that is clearly visible and easy to appreciate in its transparent bottle. Kept simple since less is usually more. Though not when it comes to taste.

The Saignée is a pure 100% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier Champagne. It manifests a powerful nose and mouth. It smells red and black fruits, tastes red and black fruits as well. Based on the grape harvest of 2006, it remains a youthful champagne with plenty of lively bubbles. As the champagne is poured, a handsome circle of white bubbles on top of the delicate pink colour of the wine itself will be formed along the glass.

The red and black fruits are the strength and the power of Pinot. This is no light drink to accompany your appetizer. Meet a champagne that will match a number of different meats from veal, lamb and well into different dishes of duck or even game. You may also want to discover our Rosé de Saignée as a cheerful companion with red fruits desserts or grapefruit sorbets.

The pink of our Rosée de Saignée champagne is inspired by the new leaves just about to unfold.

Valentine’s Day is no limit: Think Pink all year

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One of these blends will be the Rosé d'Assemblage of 2009.

Pink champagne is all about colour at first. Many eyes are attracted by the delicate raspberry-robed wine. Which is why we keep it in a transparent bottle with a matching red label.

Next comes taste. Our Rosé d’Assemblage is as dry as its white cousin, but it has different flavours that it owes to the special blend. The Assemblage is a mix of 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier-grapes. In fact it is the same blend as our Tradition. When carefully mixed with 10% local red wine, made from the two Pinot-varieties, the aromas on your nose and palate change. The sensations of pink are red.

You may recognise fruits like cherries and strawberries as you smell the Rosé d’Assemblage. They even reappear as you taste it along with blackberries and even peppers. The fleshy taste of this rosé pleasantly stays in your mouth for a while. Our current Rosé d’Assemblage is based on still wines from 2006 thus suggesting a lively wine with myriads of fine bubbles that will form into a regular necklace of bubbles along the side of your glass before they burst on the surface. The dosage is low for a brut with just 8,5 grams of sugar per litre.

Blending white base wines with local red wine is a genuine as well as ancient speciality of Champagne. As early as the 18th century, this attractive type of champagne was appreciated around Europe. Today it still is. It remains the only high quality wine in France where the AOC-rules allows a blend of white and red wines. This blending takes place in the year after the grape harvest when the wine is bottled (Tirage). The bottle fermentation is followed by the slow maturation in cool local caves that will enhance the flavours and tastes of this champagne.

Pink champagnes like our Rosé d’Assemblage have grown more and more popular during the last 15 years. Due to the attractive colour but also to the all-round usage potential of this pretty wine. It will fit your aperitif amongst friends or at a bigger party as well as a big range of meals from pink fish to white meat dishes. In Japan pink champagne is an appreciated match for sushi as well. You may even combine it with red fruit desserts as long as they are not sweetened too much.

The colour of the label is inspired by the red colours of the autumn leaves.

The AOP-system

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Champagne is an AOP. An Appellation d'Origine Protegée. A product that is produced according to a number of strictly defined rules to ensure a high quality.

Amongst these are:

1) We follow detailed instructions on how to deal with the vineyards.

2) We harvest all grapes manually.

3) We only use grapes from Champagne to make champagne.

4) We never bottle the new wines until the year after the grapeharvest.

5) Non vintage champagne mature at least 15 months in the bottle.

6) Vintage champagnes mature at least 36 months in the bottle.

The AOP-label guarantees that the wine has been made according to these rules. However you will find the AOP mentioned. The word champagne in itself is acknowledged as the AOP.

Champagne has been an AOP since August 1st 2009, where the new AOP-system joined the French AOC-system on a European level. Champagned joined the AOC-system in 1935. Seven years after it in 1927 had introduced the délimitation: The strictly defined geographical area, where grapes for champagne can be grown.

Other high quality wines, cheeses and meats of France are AOP's as well. Just think about Burgundy red wines, camembert cheeses and chicken from Bresse or ham from Bayonne.

Come and see us - comments

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We are happy to present our wines at our place or yours.

Here are a few comments from recent tastings in Denmark and at our place in Soulières.

Foto: Knud Fryland

"An entire evening with lots of champagne - even with a Danish fingerprint - and followed by a causerie about the seasons and the work in the vineyards and in the caves."

"The Franco-Danish alliance Tange-Gèrard overwhelmed us - around 30 of the members of Sydjysk Vinselskab) - in the nicest way with stars on a gem of noble champagnes from south of Rheims (and Épernay).

A truly great evening in the company of a charming winewoman and her French husband and their twinkling bottled stars.

Sydjysk Vinselskab, Haderslev

"Your enthusiasm, knowledge and vivid way to explain, makes it interesting and meaningful to learn about the making of champagne.

It is with great respect, that we think about your profession, decisions to make and manual work to carry out, before the champagne is ready to pour in the glass.

The event in Holbæk had a nice split between your contributions, the tasting itself and some food. We would certainly recommend others a tasting of this type."

Jane Lykkemark and Trine Starup, Holbæk.

"I would like to thank you for your warm welcome. The visit in the vineyard was wonderful. You must thank Alain as well. He is very gifted at explaining things. We certainly realized what an immense work it is to grow vines. Thank you for the tasting afterwards as well where the explanations continued. It is a wonderful champagne."

Charlotte Hickel, Paris-representative, Danes Worldwide

Practical information

We have visited groups of collegues, friends, neighbours, business networks in Denmark, France, Belgium and England.

We will be delighted to visit you as well. Please send a mailfor further information or phone us at +33 (0) 964 176 951.

We speak Danish, English, French and Spanish.

Please inform us about your arrival in advance so we can plan it.

Disgorgement-dates

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Some champagne-drinkers like to know the date of disgorgement. That is the proces where the deposit of yeast is removed and the dosage then added.

Please use the lot-number on the back-label to keep track of our disgorgement days:

Tradition brut:
- Lot: 6-7-11-1: Disgorged on July 26th 2011
- Lot: 6-01-01: Disgorged on January 19th 2011
- Lot: 4-10-01: Disgorged on October 21st 2009
- Lot: 4-06-01: Disgorged on June 24th 2010

Tradition Noirs brut:
- Lot: 07-10-09: Disgorged on October 19th 2009

Tradition demi-sec:
- Lot: 04-10-03: Disgorged on October 19th 2009

Blanc de Blancs 2002 brut:
- Lot: 2-10-08: Disgorged

Blanc de Blancs 2004 brut:
- Lot: 04-11-08:Disgorged on November 8th 2010

Selection 2002 brut:
-Lot: 02-06-0: Disgorged on June 15th 2009

Selection 2004 brut:
-Lot: 04-04-11-6: Disgorged on April 26th 2011

Rosé d'Assemblage brut:
- Lot: 06-01-04: Disgorged on JOctober 29th 2010

Rosé de Saignee brut:
- Lot: 06-12-7: Disgorged on December 10th 2010

Sitemap

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An easy overview of the contents of this site:

The label Welcome provides a brief idea about who we are Alain Gérard and Solveig Tange, what we want to do and where we belong in the vast bubbly landscape of winegrowers, champagnehouses and cooperatives.

Champagne is a region. In a minor part of it, vines for the sparkling and protected wine of the same name is grown. The area has certain geological characteristics that combined with the climate are known as the terroir. Our part of it consists of three different plots: Les Belles Feuilles, Les Crochettes and Les Vieilles Grandmères.

At the moment we sell five different champagnes. Each represent its own style, and they are easy to remember due to the colour of the label. Grey for the non-vintage blend, yellow for the Blanc de Blancs, brown for our top vintage, red for the blended rosé and pink for the macerated rosé. We list disgorgement dates here.

The star links us with the village of Soulières, the area of our vineyards, and from where the family originates. The label design is different than most because it is made in Denmark and most champagne labels are not.

Les vendanges 2011

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Les vendanges chez nous commencent Saturday 27 aout pendant environ huit jours.

Nous allons vendanger 1,5 hectares de noirs: Pinot Meunier et Pinot Noir et 1,5 hectares de blancs: Chardonnay.

Environ 20 personnes habitent, mangent et travaillent ensemble pendant cette periode. 12 pour la cuillette, 3 pour vider les seaus, 1 chauffeur, 2 chefs, Alain et Solveig et des amis ou famille, qui donne un main quelques heures ou la journée parce que faire les vendanges devient aussi un facon de vivre.

Les images sont de la vendange en 2010.

Si vous etes curieux de voir des grappes de 2011. Voilà:

Des lourdes et belles Pinot Noirs suivi par des Chardonnays.

Vous avez raison: Ils ne sont pas tous belles comme ca. Mais les pires on laisse par terre. Alors, nous preferons de vous montrer les raisons sains que nous allons chasser pour remplir nos paniers pendant la semaine prochaine.

Les raisins du champagne: Pinot Noir et Chardonnay, 20 aout 2011.

Grapeharvest 2011

2000-08-26T11:10:00.003+02:00

We have finished our grapeharvest in about seven days.

1,5 hectares of red Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir grapes and 1,5 hectares of the white Chardonnay-grapes have been fully harvested, which adds up in about 40 tonnes of grapes.

All dealt with manually by a team of family, friends and occasional French and Danish staff that has worked and lived together partly or fully during the period.

Especially the Chardonnay-grapes were of very good and healthy quality as we delivered them to the presses.

The Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes had more rots and therefore we had to leave 20-25 percent of them on the floor to deliver the rest in the sought-after quality.

These weeks the musts of the newly pressed grapes fermentate into a young wines.

However, these will not stable in the first months, so only after the Christmas and New Years festivities will we begin to taste them more systematically to decide how we want to blend the assemblages of 2011.

Bienvenue

2000-03-22T14:48:00.027+01:00

Nous aimerions vous convier à un voyage dans le monde passionnant de notre Champagne.

Chez nous les vendanges 2011 ont commencé samedi 27 aout.

Nous espérons que le Champagne Tange–Gérard vous apportera le meilleur de nos deux pays d’origine :

- Où la poésie du Danemark rencontre la raison et la logique française,

- Pour se matérialiser par les fines bulles d’un verre de Champagne délicatement frais,

- Que ces bulles vous fassent légèrement tourner la tête pour vous laisser aller d’une manière amusante.

Prenez du plaisir, avec modération. Alain Gérard et Solveig Tange