Miniere’s barrel-fermented champagnes are increasingly in connoisseur’s sights. Brothers Frédéric and Rodolphe Minière (hence F & R) only began to sell their champagnes in 2014 and made their own wine from only 3ha of their 8ha estate in Hermonville, north of Reims. The rest of the grapes were sold off but they are expanding each year from their current 25,000 bottles per annum. In such a short time they have received considerable admiration for their sleek and precise wines and already export modest amounts to the USA, Japan and Australia and have their first footholds in Sweden, Germany, Italy and S Korea. Frédéric worked for a time with Anselme Selosse and everything is barrel-fermented in various sizes of oak and held some 8 months on lees before bottling. Over half their vines are 40-70 years old, giving lower yield but more intense juice.
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