Faire La Fête Champagne Celebrates Freedom from Former Crémant Designation (Officially Adopting What Consumers Have Called It for Years)
LIMOUX, France (April 1, 2020) — April Fools … Faire La Fête, a sparkling wine from Limoux, France that produces Brut and Rosé, today would have loved to legally call its wine “champagne” in order to free its consumers from confusion and constant correction from the self-designated Champagne police of America. A full cheekily penned statement was planned, but during uncertain times when fact is often hard to separate from fiction, Faire La Fête instead choose to use this headline to educate the public about the unique history of its Limoux origins.
Fact: Almost 100 years before Champagne vintners stole its recipe, Limoux invented what was to become the Méthode Traditionnelle—or second fermentation in bottle—in 1531. Limoux’s unique climate and terroir, equidistant from the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees, is to thank for the advent of sparkling wine. Champagne vintners later stole the recipe and began purposefully producing bottle-fermented sparkling wine in the late-17th century (discourteously coining it the Méthode Champenoise).
“Faire La Fête is the ‘Original Champagne’ and stands up to all the expensive, popular brands at a price that is accessible,” said Edward Holl, chief executive officer of First Growth Brands, which owns and distributes Faire La Fête in the United States. “Our goal is to educate people that ‘Champagne’ is not elitist, just unfairly labeled and that Faire La Fête is the very best sparkling wine available in the market today in terms of quality and price.”
Master Sommeliers from around the country have long been quietly touting Faire La Fête’s complex character and delicate mousse, but all wine lovers can appreciate its quality/price ratio: For under $20 (SRP $19), Faire La Fête stands up to the best known Non-Vintage Brut Champagnes on the market at over twice the price—often outperforming its famous peers in blind sommelier tastings. It’s no wonder, given its sugar content. At a mere six grams per liter, Faire La Fête has 30 percent less residual sugar than the leading Champagne brands and has been endorsed by one of the most respected Master Sommeliers in the world, Peter Neptune, who is now Faire La Fête’s official advisor.
“A few years ago, when I first became acquainted with Faire La Fête, I was immediately impressed with its complex autolytic character and prominent, yet delicate, mousse, and have used it at my wine school and placed it in blind tastings where it always comes out on top,” said Neptune. “It’s about time we can finally call it what it is – really darn good Traditional Method without the Champagne price – ‘Champagne’ for all!”
Fittingly also for Earth Month, Faire La Fête Brut’s bold green label serves more than an aesthetic purpose—in fact it’s green in more ways than one. Faire La Fête’s growers in Limoux are part of a small but mighty consortium dedicated to a holistic approach to sustainable farming, ecology, social responsibility and fair trade. They represent the only sustainable farming organization entirely comprising of vineyard owners. Call it what you want, but at less than half the price, Faire La Fête is a “champagne” we can all get behind.
