Écueil · Montagne de Reims · Champagne
Champagne Frédéric Savart
Frédéric Savart
Fred Savart nearly became a professional footballer; Champagne is grateful he did not. From just four hectares in Écueil and Villers-aux-Nœuds, he crafts nearly a dozen cuvées of startling individuality — his winery, in his own words, “a laboratory of terroirs and a creator of cuvées.”
Scarcely 2,500 cases leave the cellar each year, and they are pursued by sommeliers and collectors the world over.
The Domaine
The estate was founded by René Savart, who bought his first vines in 1947; his son Daniel expanded the holdings through the 1980s. Fred returned home in 1993 at age 23, left the cooperative in 2001, and has led the domaine since 2005.
Terroir
Écueil’s soils run from notable sand to mid-slope clay with pockets of chalk, while Villers-aux-Nœuds is chalkier still — home to the family’s prized sélection massale of the renowned pinot fin d’Écueil.
In the Vines
Two varieties — Pinot Noir and Chardonnay — across two villages, farmed holistically: prevention over treatment, building vines resilient enough to resist disease on their own.
In the Cellar
Most wines ferment in stainless steel, with a growing role for barriques since 2004. Malolactic is decided wine by wine and vintage by vintage. Dosage is low and always MCR — “more neutral,” says Savart, and more honest.
In the Library
Five cuvées are currently in the Library, spanning the village blends and single lieux-dits that made Savart’s reputation.