Every Friday TheChampagneSommelier will ask 5 questions about 5 coeur de bouteilles to friends and Champagne lovers from near and far. This week we had a bubbly chat with entrepreneur & champagne lover – Elise Bougy. Merci Elise !
BIO
My love for wine drove me to take over the family estate, in a small town in the “Petite Montage de Reims” called Les Mesneux, where my late mother, Maryse, used to live. My mom was a strong and vibrant woman in the wine world and she passed her passion on to me. I try to stay true to my family values and do my job with pride.
I took over the family estate in 2016 with the aim to open new horizons for the vineyards transmitted by my ancestors thanks to new winegrowing methods “in conversion to organic and biodynamic farming” which I started to apply in 2018 on 3 hectares. I always go in search of unique grapes, rare and tasty, meeting unexpected blend. If I love my life so much, my vineyards are at 100% alive: without disturbances, with no intervention on the juices. My wines are powerful, natural, full of energy: maturation in oak, fermentation with indigenous yeasts.
Which Champagne would You treat your parents or in-laws?
‘Bollinger La Grande Année’ 2012 is a wonderful vintage to me as this is the year my first daughter, Louise, was born. Bollinger is an inspiring Champagne house with its third “prise de mousse” in magnums and an ageing under cork. It brings to the wines a unique texture!‘
Which Champagne would You treat your lover?
‘Matthieu, my lover. We are both “geeks” of Champagne makers. We love to discover new things. We are selecting the following Champagne: Champagne Etienne Calsac “Les revenants”, made from old “forgotten” Champagne grape varieties.’
Which Champagne would You treat your boss?
‘I don’t have a boss. I am a free woman 😊 If I had to taste wine with my former boss, someone who has inspired me over the years, I would pick the Champagne house where we worked together, in order to remember our shared passions: reading and wines. I would pick the “Cuvée des Enchanteleurs” 1988 from Champagne Henriot.‘
Which Champagne would You treat yourself?
‘I never drink Champagne alone but I like wines from Cyril Bonnet like his Champagne “Seconde Nature”. I have a lot of respect for his work ethic and his philosophy. He is a wonderful winemaker!‘
Which Champagne would You treat a dream guest, and why?
‘I would love to meet Dominique Creen, 3 Michelin stars chef, a woman who is inspiring me through her cooking, career and human values. If I had the chance to drink wine with her, I would be honoured to make her taste my Champagne Les Mesneux Premier Cru “Le Mont Chainqueux” Blanc de Noirs. It is unique (coming from a single plot) and natural.’
What piece of music would you listen to drinking wine in question 5 ?
‘Listening to “Ma Benz” from Brigitte, on a “chaland” (flat boat) in Cap Ferret, an idyllic place west of France, while eating oysters.‘
