Faniel et Fils – Agapane – Vallée de la Marne, Champagne

Meunier & Pinot Noir

‘Agapane’ is a play on the Greek word ‘agape,’ meaning unconditional love, and that’s how we feel about this lively Champagne.

This champagne is crystal clear and pale yellow, and comes with a lively effervescence and a generous foam. The maturity of the dried fruits is expressed before delivering notes of candied fruits and honey. Upon tasting, the attack on the palate is soft and silky, the candied fruit and the mirabelle plum unveil themselves, followed by a very fresh finish.

A blend of 65% pinot meunier, with 35% pinot noir providing the balance, it has lovely flavors of ripe pear, a hint of plum, and bracing acidity and minerality on the finish.

70% 2019, 30% 2018, bottled 2020, Degorgement October 2022

Dossage: Extra Brut, 3,8 Gs/l

Terroir: Grisardieries,, Grand Savart, Goutter d’Or at Vallée de la Marne.

Truly a steal for handmade grower Champagne, we recommend keeping one in the refrigerator at all times in case of an emergency.

Faniel & Fils

In the center of Cormoyeux, an authentic village in the heart of the Marne region, the Faniel domaine has been writing its history for 3 generations. Open the doors of this independent family house that always worked hard to showcase its exceptional terroir with a variety of natural and authentic cuvées.

The tale of this champagne begins with André Faniel, founding father of the vineyard and the brand. After a first work experience in transportation, André decides to make his youthful dream come true: the vine.

The time is right after World War II and back then, the unique aura of Champagne doesn’t shine as bright as it had been for centuries. The war damaged the notoriety and prestige of this very particular wine.

But that wasn’t enough to shatter André’s dream. The wooded lands he had invested in years before would become the foundation of a new life. Soon, through hard work and convictions, the first bottles are created and they are full of promises. They confirm the quality of this exceptional terroir.

Upon his retirement, André leaves a six-hectare vineyard to his three sons. With hard work and passion, they manage to achieve a beautiful vineyard of eight hectares by marketing the champagne under the same designation as their father. But soon after, it is his son Jacques who gives a new impetus to the history of the family.

In 1992, Jacques Faniel wants to valorize his know-how and his experience as a winemaker and pay tribute to his father’s champagne. With his wife Brigitte, daughter of farmers from the Meuse area, they give form to a vineyard that spreads its vines on a surface of four hectares.

This domain would be named Faniel & Fils as a tribute to their two sons Romain and Mathieu, then aged twelve and six. The legacy is assured.

The renewal

It is in an old presbytery of the 17th century, located in the heart of the village of Cormoyeux, that a new page would be written in the history of the champagne Faniel & Fils.

The magnificent vaulted cellars of this presbytery allow for optimal conditions of preservation. At the same time, the work on the vines continues. With their expertise, Jacques and Brigitte maintain the vineyard with passion.

All the conditions are gathered to ensure the champagne Faniel & Fils shines. Soon after, the domain expands, along with an increasing number of loyal customers.

The love for the vine continues to be passed on in the heart of the Faniel & Fils’ domain. Since 2008, Mathieu has been helping his parents with the promotion of the family domain.

After completing his studies in viticulture-oenology and a complete professional experience in various French vineyards, Mathieu comes back to the domain of his ancestors to continue writing the history of this very familial champagne.

Thanks to his knowledge and the different techniques he acquired through his professional experiences, he brings a new touch of modernity to the domain without ever betraying the tradition inherited from his forefathers.

The terroir

The Faniel & Fils domain is located on the Champagne Tourist Route, in Cormoyeux, a small winegrowing village snuggled deep into the Brunet Valley in the Marne area. Living along with the seasons, this village holds a geographical singularity that gives it all its charm : its hills, taking the shape of a beautiful natural amphitheatre, offer numerous views on la Marne river.

This singular shape makes the village of Cormoyeux a haven of peace suitable for viticulture and protected from urban unrest.

The vineyard Faniel & Fils benefits from a beautiful sunlight as it faces perfect south.

This exposure allows for an optimal maturation of the grapes. The soil essentially composed of clay and chalk assures the retention of water and trace elements, which are fundamental to the good culture of different grape varieties.

The vine

The champagne Faniel & Fils is the fruit of a tight relationship between man and nature, an eternal bond between a nature that offers its most beautiful assets and an expert hand of man that shapes and protects it.

Therefore, every day, the Faniel family works to produce, in harmony with nature, the healthiest and best quality grapes. This is achieved through respect and valorization of the environment, thanks to techniques reducing considerably the impact of man. Cover planting, or “enherbement”, of the parcels consists of planting and maintaining a ground cover between the rows of a vineyard; it is a central practice in the work of the vines in the Faniel & Fils’ domain. This method is a true alternative to herbicide treatment and tillage.

The use of prophylactic methods justifies this ambition to develop a viticulture that is preventive and always more respectful of the environment.

Secrets of wine making

As winegrowers, Faniel & Fils only work with their own grapes. Set in the cellars of the old presbytery, the massive vats hold the juice of the different varieties of grapes harvested in the various parcels of the domain. Following the different phases of fermentation, the blending (assemblage) allows the birth of the style of each cuvée by combining vintage wines and wines from previous years made with different grape varieties.

Once the blend is stabilized, it is then bottled and stored in our cellars, protected from the light. It is in the underground of the presbytery that these wines undergo another fermentation that creates this unique effervescence of champagne.

The bottles are then kept in the cellars as long as necessary until their complete maturation.

It is precisely all those slow and precise steps of the production process over several years that allow the different cuvées of Champagne Faniel & Fils to express all their uniqueness and their whole nature.

 

Champagne glossary.

terroir:

  • Grand Cru, of those towns that have the highest rating of 100%.
    There are only 17 villages classified as Grand Cru. They represent some 3,000 hectares (of the 34,000 total).
    The towns classified as Grand Cru are: Ambonnay, Avize, Ai, Beaumont-sud-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly (for Chardonnay only), Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, The Mesnil-sud-Oger, Ozyger, Oiry, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sud-Marne (for Pinzenayor only), Ver
  • Premier Cru, towns that will receive between 90 and 99% valuation.
    There are 44 villages that have the qualification of Premier Cru, which add up to about 7,500 hectares.
  • Cru, these municipalities have an assessment of 80 to 89%.
    They are the majority of the municipalities of Champagne with 255 municipalities and represent 70% of the Champagne vineyard.

    The name "Grand Cru" is very little in the labels because it can only be used if all the grapes come from municipalities with this classification something very difficult since most coupages contain grapes from various "Crues".

    The name "Premier Cru" has the same problem. The coupages are rather classified with a percentage of 80% to 100%, determined by the amount of grapes used for the composition of the mixture.

    Only the major brands of prestige produce wines that have an average of more than 90% on the Crus scale is that they are produced only with grapes of "Grands Crus" and "Premiers Crus".

    dosage:

    • BRUT NATURE: Champagne is not sweetened, with less than 3 g/l of residual sugar, without dosage or zero dosage.
    • EXTRA BRUT: It can contain up to 6 g/l of sugar.
    • BRUT: May contain up to 12 g/l of sugar.
    • EXTRA DRY: It can contain between 12 and 17 g/l of sugar.
    • SEC: May contain between 17 and 32 g/l of sugar.
    • DEMI-SEC: It can contain between 32 and 50 g/l of sugar.
    • DOUX: It can exceed 50 g/l of sugar.

      grapes:

      • BLANC: Champagne made only with Chardonnay white grapes.
      • BLANC DE NOIRS: White Champagne made with red grapes of pinot noir and/or pinot meunier.
      • ROSÉ D'ASSEMBLAGE: red wine is added to the coupage.
      • ROSÉ DE SAIGNÉE: The red grape is left to macerate with the must from 6 to 18 hours.

        vintages:

        • NON-VINTAGE: With grapes from different vintages with a minimum of 15 months of aging.
        • MILLÉSIMÉ: Champagne of vintage, it is made only when the harvest is exceptional. They can be from different vineyards and different varieties but always from the same year. The minimum aging time is 3 years.