Boizel - the fifth generation at the head of the firm
The finest wines of Champagne by Michael Edwards, 2009

Boizel is a fine tale of a family that - for all the stresses and strains of running a capital intensive, modern Champagne business - has stayed remarkably faithful to the precepts and standards of the founders. Auguste Boizel and his wife Julie. This couple, both from old vigneron stock, took the plunge as merchants in 1834 opening their doors for business on Epernay's Rue St Rémy. Now Évelyne Roques-Boizel, the fifth generation at the head of the firm, is one of those doughty Champagne women who meld Gallie charm and femininity with practical common sense and determination - inherited, in Évelyne's ease, from her Dutch mother, Erica. The Hollander sense of a bargain is very strong at Boizel. What makes the house rally worth following is the model teamwork of Évelyne and her husband, Christophe Roques, the meticulous and cerebral son of a famous geologist. Christophe is a particularly acute buyer of grapes, and he oversees the winemaking, resulting in a compact range of five excellent cuvées that, for quality and value, have few equals in Champagne - and all done without making a song and dance about it. No spin here.
At a time when wines internationally get bigger and bigger, aiming for high scores on the 100-point scale, it is a tonic to hear Évelyne's calm explanation of their approach to Champagne-making. "We are lucky that our grape varieties, thanks to the soil and the climate give very fine and delicate aromas. Our whole work is devoted to making sure that these aromas are never altered or deformed, so that they may express themselves completely." To this end the years they like. They opted for 1999 - generally, I think, a less complex vintage than 1998 - but in the Boizels' hands, the result is a resounding success of generosity and mineral finesse.
The greatest Champagne in the cellar is the Joyau de France prestige cuvée. First made by René Boizel in 1961, it is the apotheosis of the Boizel style, made only from grand and premier cur Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, a small percentage of which is vinified in oak. Joyau ages exceptionally well, particularly the lane version, the marvellous 1995 being perfect to drink in 2009. The Joyau Rosé 2000, by contrast, captures all the orchard-fruits exuberance of Pinot Noir in a forward, fruit-laden year, tempered as always at Boizel by the incisive precision of great Chardonnay. Chapeau!
Christophe patrols the vineyards all year round to choose the crus and hillsides where the three Champagne grapes show themselves best, in all their finesse. And with an injection of capital firms the BCC group, arranged by the Boizels' powerful friends Bruno Paillard and Philippe Baijot, there is now more horsepower in the Boizel engine. This financing has eased the path to new sources of supply at a time of grape shortages, strengthening their exiting base of excellent contracts, held for many years, with partner-growers.