The revenge of ratafia

"In the village, there's not a winegrower who doesn't make his own ratafia!" assures Cédric Moussé, an ardent defender of this product and a winegrower ultra-committed to the environment. His village is Cuisles, in the Marne valley, where the Moussé family has been making champagne for four generations. At the edge of the high roof of his winery is a row of "dames-jeannes". Not there for show, although it's worth a look, but his own way of aging one of his two ratafias (the other is sheltered in barrels), the "Rooftafia", as he calls it.

Ratafia, which is produced all over France and whose recipe is adapted to local production (you put in what you have on hand), is basically a fruit juice to which brandy is added to stop fermentation. To earn its name, Champagne ratafia, which has had a PGI since 2015, must be made and aged according to precise specifications. It is therefore made only with grape musts that are not used in the cuvées, and that come from the territories associated with theappellation d'origine contrôlée "Champagne", to which is added a wine brandy, a marc brandy, a wine distillate or a wine distillate .Each winemaker has his or her own recipe and distillation method, whether in the communal alembic, at home or with a supplier, but it must be made within 20 days of the date of pressing of the grapes used to make the must .

Finally, it must have an alcohol content of between 16° and 22°. All marketed Champagne ratafias aretasted blind by a 15-person panel. Today,this little-known product is coming out of the closet, and more and more consumers, distributors, winemakers and champagne houses are sniffing out the bargain .

A highly coveted product

A new lease of life for this age-old spirit, which has been championed for over fifteen years by Claude Giraud (Champagne Henri Giraud), founder and president of the Association des producteurs de ratafia de Champagne, now replaced by Alexis Leconte (Champagne Xavier Leconte).Whereas in 2022 we were just 128 members," continues Cédric Moussé, a very active member of the association, "today we are 408 Champagne ratafia producers. We produce over 8,000 hectolitres, a quantity that is increasing significantly, since it was no more than 2,800 hectolitres the previous year. The product is really coveted. I turn down buyers every day .

Maison Boizel'swinery now houses a vat designed to receive the precious liquid, which is then sent down to the cellar to age in oak barrels.Our grandfather used to make ratafia, but my parents had stopped to concentrate on champagne and because there were few outlets at the time," explains FlorentRoques-Boizel, who has been at the helm of the family business since 2019. My brother Daniel and I were interested in reviving traditional products that were different from Champagne. We saw it as an opportunity for freedom. And, starting with the 2020 harvest, we began making ratafia. We started from scratch. We did a lot of tasting, exchanged ideas with colleagues who were making ratafia, and I realized that some of them had very fixed ideas: "You shouldn't make chardonnay, you shouldn't make pinot, etc." In the end, we concentrated on the ratafia."In the end, we focused on what characterizes our house. We settled on a blend of meunier and chardonnay.

Terroir in all its diversity

Boizel doesn't distill the fines that go into this first ratafia, but selects the rebèches, the juices from the press es. A first production run was launched in October 2023, under the name RNV for Ratafia Nouvelle Vague, around 6,000 50 cl bottles, the usual format for Champagne ratafia ."Even if it's a niche, we're seeing real interest in everything related to champagne, coteaux-champenois, ratafia... I don't know yet whether this will be confirmed commercially, but people like to be told about terroir in all its diversity. "We're seeing the same demand from chefs in the region, who are looking to feature as many products from this terroir as possible in their restaurants .

Ratafia is also a goose that lays golden eggs for the champagne houses," says Cédric Moussé. They buy grapes for €7 ex-VAT for 1.2 kilos [the weight needed for 75 cl, editor's note] and sell a bottle of champagne for an average of €20 ex-VAT. They also make ratafia from the waste, which costs nothing, and sell it for around €12 per 500 ml .

On gourmet tables

At Bonvalet, a young champagne house that recently opened its distillery, they make ratafia, but not just ratafia. The all-organic spirits range also includes a gin, a pure malt New Make and a whisky currently maturing .Bonvalet distills its own products, but also does it in its own way for others, making available its state-of-the-art still, a unique piece made by Holstein . Does this mean there's a shortage of equipment in the region? No, I don't think so," replies Guillaume Bonvalet. There are some big operators [Goyard, Grap'Sud, Rafidin, NDLR] who process on a large scale . The sector is quite competitive, but with 150,000 tonnes of by-products to be processed every year, there's work for everyone! We see ourselves as complementary, because we only do made-to-measure. We had identified this demand from winegrowers and champagne houses before it arose. We sensed that the tide was turning, and we now see tasting ratafias arriving on gourmet tables, with blends, single varietals... We're part of this trend. "

Knowing how to make champagne doesn't necessarily mean knowing how to make eaux-de-vie or spirits. That's why Guillaume Bonvalet offers, in addition to his competition still, the know-how of a master distiller, trained by Daniel Haesinger, a leading specialist in fruit brandies .

And what about taste? Is it, as some claim, more refined and less rustic than before? A question of raw materials, no doubt, but also of distillation. Everyone has their own method for producing a unique and specific ratafia, different from the one next door. Depending on the wood used (if it's a wood-fired alembic), the temperature, the heating time ..."My ratafia is my grandfather Edmond 's," declares Cédric Moussé proudly. We use a distillation method that has been handed down from generation to generation. Some people cook it in two hours, but I cook it in four. The best way to enjoy it? Edmond ratafia", aged in barrels for two years, works well as an aperitif or digestive. The more complex "Ratafia sur le toit" (Ratafia on the roof) is perfect with a strong cheese, maroilles, blue cheese... or even a cigar." S. B.

Champagne, an exemplary region

Is Champagne the most virtuous wine-growing region in France? Probably, because it has to be: nothing goes to waste in Champagne. Here even less than elsewhere, thanks to specifications defined by the Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne - the CIVC, which rigorously and vigorously protects the appellation. Twenty years ago, the industry embarked on a wide-ranging eco-responsibility initiative, making the famous wine region even more eco-friendly.even the world's first winegrowing region to carry out a carbon footprint assessment - back in 2002. For over twenty years, major investments have been made to implement concrete measures, such as wine effluent purification systems.These include systems for purifying wine effluent, collecting used corks and capsules from the production process,lightening bottles and packaging, and so on. Today, 92% of Champagne's winegrowing waste is treated and recycled. Marcs, bourbes and lees are sent to the distillation sector, where they are transformed into spirits, bioethanol, grape seed oil, fertilizer, compost, animal feed...

In the vineyards, pruned wood is crushed and reincorporated into the soil. For at least thepast ten years, 99% of Champagne presses and wineries have been treating and recycling effluent water, and watertight areas with rainwater retention tanks have been installed in many places ..."We're in the midst ofa tremendous revolution! enthuses winegrower Cédric Moussé. Both the vineyard and the wine trade are moving in the same direction. We've just doubled the interprofession's budget, with 90% of it dedicated to technical development. An incredible amount of work has just been put in place to avoid anything that has an impact on the planet and is therefore harmful to the Champagne appellation in the long term, with a target of zero weedkillers for the whole of Champagne by 2025, and carbon neutrality by 2050. "