Champagne Eric Rodez
Ignoring trends since 1984, Eric tends his vineyards in organic and biodynamic viticulture, famously using aromatherapy on his 6 hectares in Ambonnay Grand Cru. While there is a myriad of rising stars in the region producing great Champagnes, Eric has been a pioneer in more ways than one, he is an Iconic grower that inspired the new generation.
From his time studying in Burgundy, he brought barrel ageing back to his family cellars in the early 80s and mastered his craft at Champagne Krug with Henri Krug for 1 year. Back home in Ambonnay, the notably disastrous 1984 vintage throw a tsunami wave at Eric, which lead him to start a soil revolution in his vineyards.
The vineyards and the respect of the environment is the number one priority at Champagne Eric Rodez. They are lucky custodians of some of the most prestigious plots in Champagne and Ambonnay alone. It is their duty to take care of them, listeningto every season, using all natural tricks to grow healthy grapes, being curious and using their sensibility to achieve the highest quality. His son Michael and daughter in law Aurelie are now assuming pivoting roles in both vineyards and cellars under his guidance.
The 2024 release marks a fresh start for Champagne Eric Rodez, with the new labels showing the Edition Number. A new way to help all trade professionals, collectors, and consumers to better identify his “Vins d’Auteur” range year after year, The appearance of the Edition number on the label will offer better traceability and visibility in the market.
tHE wINES
Deeply expressive from the start. The ageing in old oak brings a lovely oxidative character, with toasted nuts and beeswax, while the natural acidity of the Chardonnay keeps everything fresh and precise. The Ambonnay terroir comes through in the chalky, mineral character running underneath the ripe orchard fruit. The multi-vintage blend adds another layer of complexity. The Pinot Noir brings body, presence and a silky richness through the palate, while the Chardonnay gives the wine precision and length. With only 2g/l dosage, the wine is very dry and focused, full of tension, but the generous ripeness from the barrel ageing keeps everything in balance. The finish is long, with a lovely saline and chalky character that stays with you.
Non Vintage
One of the most distinctive rosé Champagnes being made today. Rodez's macération technique really makes a difference here. Combined with the depth of the reserve wines and almost total barrel vinification, it creates something that feels closer in spirit to a fine Burgundian rosé than a conventional Champagne.
Edition 38 is structured and serious, with exceptional depth from the reserve wines — 57% from 2019 and earlier. This gives the wine real depth and complexity.For those who find most rosé Champagnes too light, this is the answer.
Precise, fresh and beautifully mineral, with the 93% chalk soils of Ambonnay coming through clearly. The 75% blocked malolactic fermentation keeps the acidity vibrant and gives the wine its backbone and energy.The 2020 vintage is the largest single component at 31%, bringing generous weight to the palate and ripe stone fruit, balanced by the more citrus-driven 2021 and the freshness of the 2022.
The palate is creamy but still very fresh, rich but precise. A lovely balance between depth and tension, and a very good example of Rodez's Blanc de Blancs style.
Cuvée des Grands Vintages is Rodez's most uncompromising Champagne, and one of his most vinous and contemplative wines. Six years on the lees have transformed what was already a very structured blend into something with incredible depth and complexity.
The wines selected for the blend are chosen for their ability to stand the test of time, and the vintage backbone here is exceptional. The combination of 2016, 2017 and 2018 works particularly well: 2016 brings freshness and precise acidity, 2017 gives warmth and concentration, while 2018 — one of the great Champagne vintages of recent decades — adds density and structure.With 29% reserve wines in the blend, there is plenty of depth and complexity.
To keep or to drink? The choice is entirely yours. But this is a Champagne that deserves serious food: roasted Bresse chicken, aged Comté, white truffle dishes, lobster Thermidor or a côte de veau. It would be a shame to drink it simply as an aperitif.
Non Vintage - Magnums
Single Vineyard
The same parcel. A completely different wine. Les Beurys en Macération takes the identical Les Beurys plot, the same vintage fruit and the same zero-malolactic, 100% barrel philosophy as its white counterpart — and adds two days of skin contact. Those 48 hours change everything: colour, tannin, aromatic register, texture and ageing trajectory are all transformed. This is Rodez at his most experimental and most revealing. Deeper than the Macération Rosé in the Champagne d'Auteur range, this has become one of Champagne's greatest macération wines and a benchmark for many. It is unapologetically bold and seductive in its finesse at the same time.
The winning combination lies in the vineyard choice and preserving freshness through no malo and an uncompromised vinification.
A very accomplished, very moreish Champagne
Very pure and focused, with the east-facing exposition of the parcel bringing an amazing tension in a vintage defined by warmth and generous ripeness. The early harvest is therefore important here: Rodez picked early, preserving the acidity. This is pure Ambonnay Chardonnay terroir, with nothing compromised. The warmth of the vintage and the maturation in barrels add just another layer of complexity, while keeping the freshness and precision of the wine.
Prestige Cuvée
This wine is almost paradoxical — simultaneously rich and lean, aged and vivid. The palate's first impression is of immense breadth and density. Empreinte Blanche is the crown of the Rodez range, the finest interpretation of the Ambonnay terroir through the lens of a single varietal. A Champagne of museum-level ambition assembled from five of Ambonnay's greatest Chardonnay plots, vinified entirely in barrel without malolactic fermentation, followed by eleven years of lees ageing before release. The result is a wine that transcends the category it nominally belongs to: not a Blanc de Blancs in the conventional sense, not a prestige cuvée by commercial definition, but something rarer and more personal. The vineyards entering its composition are La Grande Ruelle, Les Champsaults, Le Noyer Saint Pys, Les Morins, Les Crayeres. The 2014 is one of the most compelling of the decade. A Champagne defined by its freshness and remarkable terroir expression.
A wine of this age and complexity needs room to breathe and temperature to open. Food pairing: white truffle, aged Comté or Beaufort, roasted langoustine, or simply — nothing at all.
The 2014 Champagne vintage is one of the most compelling of the decade — frequently underestimated at release but consistently rewarding with age. 2014 is close to an ideal vintage,the cool-ripened, naturally high-acid fruit provides exactly the structural backbone needed for prolonged ageing on the lees and the longevity of the cuvee. This is the most complex wine in the Rodez range — and one of the most haunting. The single vineyrads entering its composition are Le Moulin, Les Secs, Les Vaux saint Basles, Les Fournettes, Les Beurys.
The palate is monumental from the first sip: broad, dark and deeply textured reflecting the density of old-vine Ambonnay Pinot Noir. The finish defies description in terms of length: mineral, dark, smoky and persistent
Fortified
Ratafia is Champagne's traditional mistelle — freshly pressed grape juice (moût) whose fermentation is stopped by the addition of grape spirit, typically to around 17–20% ABV. The result is a fortified, naturally sweet vin de liqueur with full fruit character preserved intact by the alcohol. Long made by growers for their own tables, it was awarded its own Champagne appellation in 2015
Rodez's approach to Ratafia is categorically different, as you would expect from this man. Made solely from Ambonnay Pinot Noir and by running a solera from 2015 to 2020. He has created a wine of layered complexity. The result is a wine that is simultaneously aged and alive — a Ratafia with the structural ambition of a great Banyuls or Maury, yet with the unmistakable chalk-mineral identity of Ambonnay Grand Cru beneath it.
If you like tawny port or Colheita, this is on for you. Deep, lustrous amber colour, with notes of medjool dates, dried figs, muscovado and hazelnut. No doubt it will be enchanting every cheese board.