La Rogerie
Alsace and Champagne
One of the best parts of following iconic producers is seeing the young talent emerge from them. Francois Petit was born and raised in Avize and spent time with (what producers did he spend time with...It was Selosse they don't want us to mention that:)…He has now taken the reins from his father and is giving us another name to focus on in the village Avize. Francois' wife is Justine Boxler whose family runs Albert Boxler in Alsace. What makes this project super unique is Justine didn’t leave Alsace for Champagne and Francois didn’t leave Avize for Alsace...they decided that they would rather conquer both. Justine and Francois took over for Francois’ father starting in 2015. Right away, they started to farm differently. The focus was to ensure they had a healthy and sustainable vineyard. The same year they installed cellars in Alsace to make sure they were staying true to their word and focus on both regions.
LA ROGERIE - CHAMPAGNE
Their vineyards are in Avize and extend to the border of Cramant and Oger. These vineyards are famously known for their chalky rich soils made up of marine fossils. They carefully plow by horse and lightweight tractors, have eliminated herbicides/pesticides, and are using homemade organic compost. The goal is to encourage the natural growth and development of organic biodiversity in the vineyards and showcase the purest form of terroir. Justine and Francois have also recently moved into a farmhouse that has been in the family for quite some time. The vision is to have home and farm that supports their winemaking ideology!"We use the rest of our field seeds-oats, wheat, barley, mustard… to be sowed during winter into the vineyard in order to avoid having to protect the soils with anything other than natural protection, which increases the biomass and create less compaction in the soils.The vines were planted between 1937 and 1961 therefore the entire vineyard is composed of very old vines, massale selection”
EVOLUTION WITH THE 2023 VINTAGE
While it had been in the process for some time, imagined by both Justine and Francois early in their career, with the completion of the 2023 harvest (and subsequent releases in 2026-onward), La Rogerie Champagnes are now released as non-vintage bottlings. This signifies a shift in labeling, albeit not necessarily in philosophy. The early releases of single-vineyard wines Champ Bouton, Chemin de Chalons and Haut du Moulin were single-vintage wines, and allowed multiple developments to happen: one, showcase very different vintages for lovers of their wines, while at the same time having something to release to the market; at the same time, from the 2020 vintage on, the duo was able to reserve slower-developing barrels of these single-vineyard wines, building a library of back vintages that would be released only when the barrels reached perfect development, and then presented as a blend of vintages to best exemplify the terroir. Each plot, they insist, is best shown in its entirety with not a hot, dry, wet or cold vintage, but with a range of these variables where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Bourg Nord and Bourg Sud are continuing to be kept as a reserve perpetuelle - Bourg Nord started with the 2021 vintage, Sud with 2018 - and are unique twists on the more traditional blends of Avize. Split along a delimited line separating the two halves, Justine and Francois will use vineyard plots from the top to the bottom of the hill for each. This gives a realistic and true expression of the North and South of Avize, each with its own unique take on one of Champagne's greatest villages.
LA ROGERIE - ALSACEOne of the things that really caught our attention when first meeting Justine and Francois was their passion and dedication to their roots. It is so rare to see winemakers come together to one place from two separate regions and continue to make wine in both. One of my favorite regions is Champagne. I don’t want to say I wasn't open-minded and offered equal excitement to both parts of production, but you can say I was most lit up about tasting the Champagnes. After one sip of the Brand Riesling and a bite of Alsatian style pizza from a local Baker, my mindset totally shifted. Little by little Justine's family has been giving them vineyards in Alsace. They are focusing on healthy farming, working as naturally as possible, and picking at optimal ripeness to preserve the acidity.
