Champagne Marizy Père & Fils
Vallée de la Marne Champagne house with a Chardonnay led Grande Réserve and a rosé made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
At A Glance
- Field
- Detail
- Region
- Champagne, Vallée de la Marne
- Style
- Brut Champagne and Brut rosé
- Main grapes
- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
- Signature wine
- Grande Réserve Brut Premier Cru
- Defining feature
- Family business founded by Fernand Marizy in 1953, with a Rosé de Saignée in the range
The Producer
Champagne Marizy Père & Fils is a family Champagne house in the Vallée de la Marne. Fernand Marizy created the business as a winegrower, and the house works through terroir and tradition. Its named cuvées pair Grande Réserve Brut Premier Cru with Rosé de Saignée Brut Premier Cru, placing a Chardonnay led Brut beside a Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier rosé.
The house keeps its range compact. One cuvée is built around Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, while the other uses Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in rosé form.
Place
The Vallée de la Marne is the regional home of Champagne Marizy Père & Fils. Both cuvée names carry Premier Cru. In Champagne, Premier Cru is a classification within the cru system, so it marks a classified place level on the label rather than a grape variety or sweetness category.
Story
In 1989, Christian Marizy took over the business created by his father, Fernand. The name Père & Fils records the succession directly. Christian's arrival kept the house in the Marizy family and carried forward a business that had begun with Fernand's work as a winegrower.
Vineyards And Cellar
Rosé de Saignée uses a short period of skin contact. The must soaks with grape skins for a few hours, extracting color and tannin before fermentation continues. This gives the rosé a deeper color and more tannin than a rosé made without skin contact.
Grande Réserve includes reserve wines in its blend. The 2008 harvest contained 34% reserve wines. Reserve wines are base wines held from earlier harvests and used in a later blend, a Champagne technique that can add continuity between harvests.
The Grande Réserve dosage is 10 grams per liter. Dosage is the small addition made after disgorgement, and its amount sets the wine's final level of sweetness.
Wines
Grande Réserve Brut Premier Cru is the house's Brut cuvée, made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Rosé de Saignée Brut Premier Cru is the rosé, made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
The lineup therefore has one Brut cuvée and one Brut rosé. The first is defined by its Chardonnay led composition; the second by its red grape varieties and rosé production method.
In The Glass
Grande Réserve is pale yellow, with white flowers and fresh fruit on the nose. The palate begins with a frank attack, becomes vinous through the middle, and finishes with fruit. Chardonnay brings roundness and lightness, while the wine remains tender, expressive and crisp.
Rosé de Saignée is ruby red, with unctuous bubbles and foam. Its nose is expressive, showing an intense bouquet of red fruit. Black currant, strawberry and raspberry appear on the attack. The wine is richer and more vinous than typical rosé Champagne, with deeper color and tannin, followed by a long and pleasant finish.
A Bottle To Understand It
Choose Grande Réserve Brut Premier Cru first. It has 67% Chardonnay and 33% Pinot Noir. The composition puts Chardonnay at the front while keeping Pinot Noir in the wine, presenting the house's Brut expression before the separate rosé cuvée.
Anecdote
In 1953, Fernand Marizy created his business as a winegrower. He began commercial Champagne sales in 1970, seventeen years after the business started. During those years, the company stayed tied to grape growing. In 1970, Fernand moved into selling Champagne, taking the business from vineyard work into commercial sales. Fernand was a winegrower first and a Champagne seller later.
Final Word
Champagne Marizy Père & Fils carries a family Champagne business from Fernand Marizy's vineyard work into two distinct cuvées, Grande Réserve and Rosé de Saignée.