Italiano
Scacciadiavoli buys Marie Clugny brand
With the acquisition of the Marie Clugny brand, Scacciadiavoli fully enters the Champagne market and presents the production of the first 4 "Italian-style" Champagnes.
It is a dream come true that is presented by the Pambuffetti. Not only because of their own passion towards the French bubble and France in general, how can one not share that fascination, but rather because it is the beginning of the chapter dedicated to the young owners of Scacciadiavoli.
Those who know Scacciadiavoli know that behind the imposing gate that opens into the large courtyard dominated by the late 19th-century architectural engineering of Prince Engineer Ugo Boncompagni Ludovisi's wine cellar, there is hidden, and not too much of it, a small workshop of ideas.
Trying to summarize 70 years of history is no simple matter. The Pambuffetti family arrived at the "cantinone" in the 1950s. The sparkling wine project began with Amilcare, who in unsuspected times bottled (in Montefalco!) a classic method of Sagrantino replicating with rosé a few years later. That was 2005, and after 18 years, on June 20, 2023, here comes Champagne thanks to the final acquisition of the Marie Clugny brand. There are currently 4 French labels produced for a total of 6 thousand bottles. These are two Blanc de Blanc, one Blanc de Noir and one Brut from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, all 2020 vintages.
On the French side there are 8 hectares of vineyards, owned by a young generation of women winemakers, which will go on to make up Marie Clugny's wines. These vineyards are located in the Côte de Blanc and Vallée de La Marne, in the Grand crus of Chouilly, Oiry and Cramant and Première Cru of Mareuil sur Aÿ, where some of the best performers of Champagne are found. The soils are layered with Campanian gypsum, dating back to the Cretaceous, outcrops of fossils and algae, and over time formed the chalky limestone layer that gives Champagnes character. Thanks to its hydrophilic and thermoregulatory profile, it is also a valuable ally for vineyard health.
In charge of production from this year will be the Umbrian team, assisted by Stefano Chioccioli, the winemaker who has been following the winery for some time. The oenological work taken care of by the Italian know-how in this first collection involved the final part of the production, very important that of the choice of liqueur, and of the future productions still no secrets are revealed. Vinification is done whole cluster with vertical press. Only one extraction of must flower is made, obtaining, as indicated by the Comité Champagne, 20.50 hectoliters of must from 4,000 kg of grapes. The crus are processed separately to preserve traceability.
Meanwhile, Umbrian bubbly production is no less impressive. The two versions, brut and rosé metodo classico from Sagrantino grapes, the first in blends and the second in purity, continue to feed a market that is now well established. A market that is clearly different from that of their French sisters, who lead the "price of release" ranking, with a range of 50 to 60 euros. Then again, in Champagne 1 hectare of vineyard costs 2 million euros, and with grapes at 9 euros per kilo, the sparkling wine base alone comes to cost 12-13 euros per liter. Doing the same calculation with Sagrantino in Montefalco we would have to shell out 80 thousand euros for 1 hectare and the grapes (as of 2020, according to Unioncamere) are priced at 180 euros per quintal. Something we have to learn from our French friends.
It will be interesting to follow the commercial and communication strategy that will revolve around Marie Clugny, whose origins are still unknown. She will be, real or imagined, the brand's ambassador, the protagonist of the story I have just begun to tell, ready to drink Champagne chaque jour and who has already left her red trail, like the color that prevails in her brand, in the hills of Montefalco.
In the winery's 40 hectares of vineyards, however, typical wines of the area are also produced. The two DOCs that insist on the area are Montefalco and Spoleto and the DOCG Sagrantino, for a total of 270,000 bottles.
Will it therefore be madame Clugny in red dressed to chasser les démons? There is only to choose which bubbly to start with for this year.
The Champagnes from Marie Clugny Collection 2023, which corresponds to the 2020 vintage but are non-vintage (i.e., without reporting the vintage), that we liked best are these two, click on the name to open the tab:
