Meet Thomas Perseval
Thomas’s small estate (2.5ha), based in Chamery, has been passed on by many generations in the family who also farm cereals (hence the wheat sheaf represented on the label). In the early 1980s, his parents created their own brand and decided to leave the co-op. They invested in a traditional Champagne press, and started making their own Champagne, focusing on quality. At the end of the 1990s, they started to plough between the vines only, and left natural cover crops between the rows in order to restore the balance of the soil. In 2003, after an internship with biodynamic winemakers in Burgundy, Thomas really understood the means to prioritise a more natural approach in farming, so to let the expression of the fruit speak.
The domain encompasses 7 vineyard Crus that are on the bottom to mid slopes, laying on a rich variety of soils and with different expositions, as the village of Chamery comes into the form of an amphitheatre. The domain is entirely certified organic since 2012, and Thomas is now focusing on making single vineyard wines, which are all aged in barrels (228l and 500l) for at least 9 months, with very minimum sulphur or none added.
It is not an easy task to fully understand the personality of a farmer, simply by tasting the wines. It involves a certain degree of time travel and it's important to interpret the grower's own journey throughout the vintages. Having tasted the single vineyard releases, we are touched to see Thomas’s philosophy mirrored in his wines.
All the wines we’ve started to bring in were disgorged a la volée, making them enjoyable soon after the release date.
