The House of Deutz

By John U. Salvi

The House of Deutz is a unique House, not only for its Champagnes, but also for the unparalleled beauty and elegance of its salons and its park. A relatively small Champagne House, of impeccable quality, with almost 170 years of history behind it, it puts onto the market place some one and one half million bottles per annum. To be exact this was 1,414,000, in 2005. Situated in the heart of Aÿ, it has the deepest cellars in all of Champagne and these we enlarge upon below. Deutz also has what are, most certainly, some of the most beautiful offices that I have ever seen.
In fact, what they use as offices are no less than the very beautiful salons built by Marie Deutz in the purist Second Empire style. To work in such beautiful surroundings must be a joy indeed, and everybody that I met there gave me the distinct impression of thoroughly enjoying their daily labour. Attached to these salons is the most beautiful and tranquil park, right in the middle of town. Today Deutz belongs to a family-owned conglomerate (see GROUPS below). The shareholders, most intelligently, give Deutz total autonomy to run its own affairs and produce its own magnificent wines.Deutz has what they call three families of wines.
The first family is made up of medium-bodied and fresh Champagnes, perfect aperitif wines, although they can happily be drunk with food and at all times of the day and night. The second family is richer and fuller, with more Pinot Noir, and makes perfect food wines. The Champagnes of the third family have more age. They are wines for special occasions and succeed in allying finesse and power to make memorable bottles.

                                                  HISTORY

                              The House of Champagne Deutz was founded, at Aÿ, in 1838, by William (Guillaume) Deutz (1809-1884) and Pierre-Joseph-Hubert Geldermann (1811-1872). To start with they had no offices. They were both naturalised Frenchmen, immigrants from Napoleonic Prussia. The House of Deutz still holds their certificates of nationality, which were signed by King Louis Philippe.
They hailed from Aix La Chapelle (Aachen), which was part of France under the First Empire. As can be seen, they were both in their late twenties. Deutz had had the experience of six years with J. Bollinger and Geldermann had the capital. Their original markets were chiefly Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.

 

William worked so hard he almost killed himself, but the company very quickly grew and prospered greatly. A great deal of business was done with Robert Parkington, in London, who sold the wine all over the world. Geldermann turned out to be an excellent technician and made fine Cuvées.

At first, the wines for these Cuvées were bought already bottled and “sur lattes”. The wine was then disgorged, liqueur de dosage added, recorked and labelled. William Deutz married Arsène d’Arragon and they had two children: - Marie (1847-1933) and René (1844-1897).

 

Pierre-Joseph-Hubert married Clarisse Paul and they had three children: - Pierre-William-Alfred (1841-1908), Clara and Ange Ernestine. Marie further cemented the partnership by marrying Pierre-Joseph-Hubert’s son, Pierre-William-Alfred.

With the considerable finances of their, by then, prosperous parents, the couple constructed the most fabulous cellars. They were no less than three kilometres long. It took one hundred labourers four years to dig and create them. They were what are known as “voutes en berceau” the “voutes” or “vaults” being in the shape of Roman arches and covered with three layers of brick to avoid infiltration, as much of them was under the vineyards.

 

They were on two levels and each tunnel was 180 metres long. Where they started, under the buildings, they were 17 metres deep, but at the end of the 180-metre tunnels, they were no less than 65 metres below ground level.

These are the deepest cellars known in the whole of Champagne. They remain at a constant temperature of 11°C and a constant humidity of 95%. Marie also built the most magnificent suite of salons (mentioned above), which serve as the offices today, designed by the artist Edmond Lamy. They are pure and classical Second Empire, of the 1860 period.

At the same time she created the very graceful, beautiful and tranquil park attached to the salons. The salons and the park are still two of the greatest prides and joys of Deutz.

The company continued to expand and prosper immensely and became a founding member of the “Syndicat des Grandes Marques”, in 1882. In 1906, the third generation arrived. Firstly, in the person of René Lallier (1861-1938), the husband of René Deutz’s daughter, Hélène (1873-1952). There was also another daughter, Charlotte, who married a certain Martin and disappeared from the scene.

Secondly, in the person of Charles Van Cassel (1876-1919), who had married Marie Deutz-Geldermann’s daughter, Marie (1874-1966).This third generation Marie had a brother and a sister, Pierre and Jeanne, but they neither of them had any heirs and also disappeared from the scene. As the above couples were both formed of daughters married to sons-in-law, the name Deutz had all but disappeared, but it was still in the hands of the direct family descendants.Due to the times they lived through, this third generation faced many trials and tribulations.

A lot of their buildings were destroyed during the violent riots of the growers in 1911, when the troops were sent in to quell them. A great deal of both stock and vineyards were damaged beyond repair. However, Lallier, thanks to quite remarkable foresight, was able to rebuild more quickly than others who had suffered the same fate. His perspicacity had led him to insure the House with the Mutuelle de Valenciennes, against damage by riot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          

 

 

 

 Things continued well over the next twenty years until the great crash and the depression of the 1930s. By 1931, annual production had plummeted to 80,000 bottles per year, having been at 600,000, in 1897. Disaster was avoided,
thanks to Marie Deutz-Geldermann, who reinvested a large portion of her very considerable fortune into bailing out the company.Somehow Deutz weathered the storm, again expanded and continued to do so in spite of the Second World War. Two years before the occupation, in 1938, René Lallier’s son, Jean (1897-1987), took over the running of the company.

His brother and sister, Marcel and Nicole, were not involved. The Germans occupied Ay for four years, and in spite of no money, no bottles, no horses to work the vineyards and no manpower (among other things that lacked), business went on. Indeed they were not quite as bad as they could have been, because the Houses of Champagne sold eighteen million bottles of Champagne to the German Armed Forces during the four years of occupation, albeit at very cheap prices.

This at least kept them alive! Jean Lallier saw the company through the war and for another seventeen years after it. In 1972, he handed over to his son, André Lallier.

Once again, André’s brother and sister, James and Marie-Rose, were not involved. Things continued well for a while, but then financial and fiscal problems began to appear and the company started to lose too much money. With regret, in 1993, André sold his shares to the owners of Roederer, Théophile Roederer, and thus sold the House of Deutz. The company was still almost 100% family owned. Part of the problem was that which is encountered far too often in France, the problem of inheritance, exacerbated by the abolition of primogeniture by Napoléon!

André had searched diligently for the best buyer. To sell was agony! When he reached his agreement with the Rouzaud family (major shareholders of Roederer), it was a great joy to him. Another family company like his own!

 

He regarded the sale as a marriage and, fortunately, so did Jean-Claude Rouzaud, the Director General of the Roederer group.

 

In August 1996, Jean-Claude sent his right hand man, Fabrice Rosset, to manage and run Deutz. There he still is today, after ten successful years, surrounded by an excellent and dynamic team as we shall see and enjoying total autonomy.

 

WHO’S WHO
The House of Deutz belongs to the Holding Company,Théophile Roederer, whose major shareholder is the Rouzaud family. Undoubtedly, the two flagships of this fantastic group are Champagne Louis Roederer and Champagne Deutz, the former being today about twice the size of Deutz.

 

Both Houses are small compared to the mighty groups, small but fine! On the Champagne side, the Louis Roederer side, Jean-Claude’s son, Fréderic, has taken over the reins.Fabrice Rosset, sent from Roederer, in 1996, by Jean-Claude Rouzaud, is Deutz’s Chairman and CEO (President Director General).

Arnaud Bro de Comères is a Member of the Board and the Director of Public Relations. He has been with Deutz since 1969 and knew the company under the old family ownership, both in times of prosperity and times of hardship.

His family has been in Paris for over six generations.The first known of his forebears was a “notary public”, under King Louis XVI, whose son was both a valorous and notable General.

He is totally devoted to Deutz and intensely proud of it in all its aspects. He is a wise, knowledgeable, charming and enlightening man.Quite delightfully, André Lallier’s son, Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz, the sixth generation, today aged forty, has joined the company as Export Director.

 

He has taken back the name of his great-great grandfather, and of his great-grandmother, and added it to that of his father. He is now Lallier-Deutz and the House of Deutz can once again rejoice in having a direct descendant of their founders with the

company.

 

Michel Davesne is Chef de Caves and Chief-Oenologist. Patrick Boivin is Vineyard Manager. He is also a grower in his own right, owning vineyards. In addition he is a Director of a local Cooperative.Christophe Hirondel is in charge of Public Relations.

 

VINEYARDS
Deutz have painstakingly collected the finest vineyards throughout their history. They have always believed in the “land” from the outset. “Great land, terroir, makes great Champagne”. The first Deutz vineyard was five hectares, in Pierry, which came with the dowry of Arsène d’Arragon when she married William Deutz, in 1843. The most recent was bought, in 1977.

Today Deutz owns 32 hectares of its own vines, distributed between the Montagne de Reims, the Côte des Blancs and the Marne Valley, this last including the Epernay region. These supply 20% of their needs.

 

The Directors also have vineyards of their own (approximately 10 hectares), whose grapes come to Deutz, and this increases the 20% to 25%. The distribution of the grape varieties is one third of each, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. This is exactly the composition of the assemblage of the Cuvée “Deutz Classic”.

Deutz continue to enjoy the closest possible relationship with their suppliers from the «Crus» in the various villages.

80% of all their grapes come from Grands Crus and Premiers Crus and they buy from 47 of the very best villages, out of the 367 “terroirs” that exist in Champagne:46.9 hectares in the Montagne de Reims, 27.8 hectares in the Côte des Blancs, 22.5 hectares in the Epernay region, 27.6 hectares in the Marne Valley and 25.3 hectares scattered over quality “sub-regions” (total 150.10 hectares all under contract).

These purchases cover some sixty different growers with relationships that go back, in some instances, for several generations. The average weighting on the “classification ladder” is no less than 94%. Not one supplier is more than thirty kilometres from Ay.

 

Contracts are usually from 4-12 years. Growers receive a price, set by the market place, which also includes generous bonuses for quality. Price fixing now has been made strictly illegal. These contracts are all individual, but get their inspiration from the discussions between the two main bodies in the CIVC – the “Union des Maisons de Champagne” and the “Syndicat Général des Vignerons”.

Deutz employs a nine-man team of vignerons for pruning their vines. This is done on the Royat or Chablis system. Fertilisation is done, as and when deemed advisable, with natural “tourteaux” and sheep manure. Yields are very carefully controlled as Deutz endeavours not to exceed the 10,400 to 13 000 kilograms per hectare, as the case may be. These quantity limits are decisions taken each and every year by the authorities and driven by world-market conditions as well as by the quality of the coming crop.

The harvest usually takes about ten days and takes place anytime between 15th September and 15th October, although, due to global warming, it now seems that the official dates set by the authorities are getting earlier than they were a couple of decades ago. Deutz has five teams of pickers, each headed by their own vignerons. Grape selection is draconian.

They are taken in small, drained containers to the press rooms, which are all ideally located so that the pressing of the grapes takes place immediately after picking. The critical point is to avoid any crushing or oxidation before pressing.The Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are pressed just as rapidly as possible to prevent pigmentation. Pressure is gentle.

The legal limits are totally respected and Deutz only uses the first pressing “Cuvée”, never the “taille” or second pressing. This is sold to, or exchanged with, other Houses. Deutz have several pressing centres, and a main press room in Ay, where they have two “Coquard” presses with integrated pressure release.

As for vinification and wine-making equipment, in 1972, when André Lallier was running the show, the company was thoroughly modernised, with good stocks, the latest technical equipment, and vineyards with a fabulous overall rating on the “cru classification” ladder of 97%.

Today they have modernised again. Under Fabrice Rosset, the installations have been considerably enlarged and improved, since the company went from a production of about 700,000 bottles, in 1996, to 1.4 million, in 2005. It is aiming at 1.6 million in 2006.

“The entire project regarding facilities, equipment and, of course, contracts for top-quality grapes, is aimed at reaching between 1.8 to 2 million bottles”, says Fabrice Rosset.

All stainless steel, thermo-regulated vats were installed, some in the 90s, and the major development took place just a few years ago. For the cellars, Fabrice put in a magnificent “chaine de dégorgement and dosage”.

Their installations are state-of-the-art today. Over the last nine years, eleven million euros (13.7 million US $), taken from the company’s own resources, have been invested to meet Deutz’s new goals for quality and development. More than ever, they refuse to be «a Champagne of the past”.

CHAMPAGNE according to Deutz
Once the grapes have been pressed, the juice is cold-settled for twenty four hours, at 11°C. It is neither filtered nor centrifuged.Deutz uses no wood in their Champagnes and the fermentation takes place in those modern, stainless steel, thermo-regulated vats that we have mentioned above. Selected Champagne yeasts are used. Fermentation takes place at temperatures between 18°C-20°C. The entire operation is controlled by their two oenologists.

After fermentation the wine is racked, with plenty of aeration.It then undergoes malo-lactic fermentation in the vats. This is followed by a second racking. The wine is then blended in a huge tank. Following this it is cold stabilised at minus 2°C to avoid later precipitation of tartrate crystals in bottle. The temperature is then raised to 11°C-12°C and the wine is lightly filtered.

Thus all wines are perfectly stabilised before bottling. Now comes the tasting of the Vin Clair and the subsequent blending of the Cuvées. One of the most vital moments in the creation of the new Champagne. The tastings start in February and may take up to two months.

Traditionally a Deutz Cuvée has some 30- 35 different base wines in it and these have hardly changed in one hundred years. The tasting team is made up of Michel Davesne, Joachim Verdier (Michel Davesne’s assistant) and Fabrice Rosset. Very recently, Jean-Marc Lallier-Deutz has been invited to join the team.

Bottling now follows, with the addition of the liqueur de tirage.Deutz likes to use young Reserve Wine for freshness in the Brut Classic Cuvée, as well as for the make-up of the liqueur. Freshness and complexity, not necessarily youth! The yeasts in the liqueur are selected Champagne yeasts, sent to Canada to be lyophilised and returned in tins for use. 24 grams of sugar will give six kilograms of pressure in the bottle.

Once the liqueur has been added, the bottles are closed with crown caps and the plastic “bidule”. This operation is done from May through July, according to how many bottles have to be handled (2 million bottles each over the last two years; thus building-up stocks for future growth).
The bottles go at once to the “basse cave”, so very deep here at Deutz, as we have seen, with a constant temperature of 11°C. Here starts the all important phases of “prise de mousse” and ageing, with the bottles stacked horizontally “sur lattes”.

The law demands a minimum of fifteen months ageing for Non Vintage Champagne. Deutz gives it 2 1⁄2 years, which means that, with the average of 25% of «vin de réserve» added to the composition of the Brut Classic, the “weighted ageing” is about 3 years from harvest date.

For vintage Champagne the legal minimum is three years from harvest. Deutz’s youngest is the 2000 vintage, bottled 2001 and put on the market in 2006. The great Cuvée William Deutz has up to seven years of ageing. This, as we all now know, is one of the chief factors that makes great Champagne and imparts to it the elegance, finesse and harmony.

 

When considered ready, the wine is taken up to the upper level cellar for riddling. Here, at Deutz, some of the “prestige” Champagnes are still riddled by hand in the pupitres (riddling racks), whereas some of the vintage-dated wines, and all of the “Brut Classic”, are riddled by the gyro palettes.Finally, the wine goes up to the ground level for “dégorgement”.

This is now done, as almost everywhere, with the necks of the bottles frozen in a glycol solution of -25°C.

 

The crown cap is removed, the bottle is IMMEDIATELY turned upright and the chunk of frozen sediment is shot out. The liqueur de tirage is then added and the bottle recorked with the final shipping cork.

 

No less than six machines are used for these processes. The first takes off the crown cap, the second draws out a small amount of liquid from the bottle, the third doses the liqueur into the bottle (10-12 grams/litre) and the fourth refills the bottle, to the correct level, with the same Champagne as that being bottled. The bottle then moves to a fifth machine that puts on the wire muzzle and a sixth that fixes the special Deutz plaque, individual to each Cuvée.

None the less, it should be noted that the large format bottles are disgorged by hand.Interestingly, Deutz collects the chunk of sediment (still holding a bit of precious wine in it) and sends it to a factory that produces vinegar and mustard (Clovis, the name of the first King of France).Once the operation is completed, the bottled wine goes back into the cellars for some six months or more to marry and rest.

 

PROJECTS
1. To sell 1.5 to 1.6 million bottles in 2006, and 1,800,000 + bottles by 2010.
2. To develop their export market.

 

MARKETING
In the USA, all Deutz wine is sold by a subsidiary (Maisons, Marques and Domaines, in Oakland, set up by Fabrice Rosset, from 1988 to 1996), which is common to Deutz and Roederer. But this is the only country where this is so.

 

The U.K is Deutz’s Number One market, followed by Hong Kong (thanks to two prestigious partnerships with The Peninsula Hotels Group and Cathay Pacific Airways). Then comes the USA and the European markets. New on the map is Japan, especially in the “on-trade” category.
It is not the least of Deutz’s projects to develop in other countries, whilst also continuing to expand their US market, where they “consider that the potential is big” given “the very good accolades received by top accounts, wine aficionados and wine writers”. The other country in which they are leaders is France itself. Here they are in all the great restaurants and hotels, and all the finest wine shops.

Deutz does not sell to supermarkets.The company promises to “surprise” customers and distributors next year, in 2007, with the introduction of a new marketing program, a revamping of the range that “will enhance the image of Deutz” says Fabrice, emphasizing that, in spite of the magnitude of the impact this program is likely to have, he sees it as “a natural evolution for this once sleeping beauty - not a revolution”.

                                                                           

 

GROUPS
Under the Deutz ownership is Delas Frères, the well known company in the Rhône Valley and certainly one of the great Rhône Houses. This was acquired on 1st April 1977. Delas is run by Fabrice Rosset and the wines fall under Deutz’s marketing network. It has two oenologists of its own. It accounts for one-third of the joint turnover, with Deutz accounting for the other two-thirds.

The Group, Théophile Roederer, owners of Deutz, led by the Rouzaud family, has very considerable assets. Ramos Pinto (the Port Company), Domaines Ott in Provence, Roederer Estate in California, two Châteaux in Bordeaux, Château de Pez and Château Haut-Beauséjour (both Crus Bourgeois of Saint Estèphe), and a 50% stake in the Bordeaux Shipping Company of Descaves, jointly with Christian Moueix.

In 1996, Deutz divested itself of Château Vernous (an Haut Médoc, Cru Bourgeois) and of an Estate, named Pressoir Deutz that they had in San Luis Obispo County, California. They still have a “technical joint venture” with Montana(now under the ownership of Pernod-Ricard), in New Zealand, making a very good sparkler called Deutz Marlborough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

RANGE OF WINES
- DEUTZ, Brut Classic
- DEUTZ, Brut Rosé
- DEUTZ, Brut Millesime
- DEUTZ, Brut Rosé Millésime
- DEUTZ, Blanc de Blancs Millésime
- DEUTZ, Cuvée William Deutz, Millésime, Brut
- DEUTZ, Cuvée William Deutz Rosé, Millésime, Brut
- DEUTZ, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Millésime, Amour de Deutz

 

TASTING NOTES
1999 AMOUR DE DEUTZ, BLANC DE BLANCS
BUBBLES : Very fine and small and persistent.
COLOUR : Fine, pale, pale gold. Brilliant with flashes of green reflections. Attractive.
NOSE : Fine, pure fresh and quite light. This lightness is wonderfully refreshing and “moreish”! There is a yeasty and floral fragrance, which is both charming and elegant. Refined and encourages one to drink deeply.
PALATE : Surprisingly rich, with intense flavours, much deeper and weightier than the nose. Finely structured, complex and persistent in the mouth. A delicious dryness and yeastiness, like fresh brioches, that accompanies the wine all the way through. The acidity is lemon fresh and harmonises perfectly with the fruit. Balance, purity and elegance. There is only a small production of this special Cuvée, so get in quick!!

1996, CUVÉE WILLIAM DEUTZ ROSÉ
BUBBLES : Ultra fine and very vigorous and fresh at the start.
COLOUR : Pale rosé, light and bright and tinged with a touch of onion skin. Most attractive.
NOSE : Here we have a developed and mature Champagne nose. Voluptuous, filling the nasal passages with generous fragrances of fruit and flowers. Very pure, refined and gracious. Ten years of ageing have given it a complexity that makes the nose almost sufficient without the taste!!
PALATE : None the less it would be a tragedy not to taste and drink it! Rich. The ultimate Deutz objective has been achieved– power allied to finesse. The wine is long, fresh and has deep flavours of fruits and flowers as on the nose. Brioches and mild spices. Harmony, length and balance. Wonderful now, but there is no hurry. Take your time and savour the ever increasing graciousness and generosity of this great Champagne.

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