You Don’t Have to Get Old: Bouvet-Ladubay, Recent Releases
“You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
– George Burns (1896 – 1996)
There is no getting away from it; the sparkling wine house of Bouvet-Ladubay is old. The business was established by Étienne-François Bouvet and his wife-to-be Célestine Ladubé in 1851 (the couple married the following year), making it Saumur’s second oldest house after Maison Ackerman was founded in 1811. This was a significant time for the development of sparkling wine in both Saumur and Champagne; at the same moment, Étienne-François Bouvet was setting up shop in Saumur, Charles-Camille Heidsieck was doing the same in Champagne, hot on the heels of Pol Roger two years earlier.
Having been founded in 1851, 2026 marks the 175th anniversary of Bouvet-Ladubay’s creation, and what more appropriate way to mark this occasion than to take a look at the current range of wines made here? In this short tasting report I work my way through the entire portfolio at Bouvet-Ladubay, right up to the Ogmius and new Ogmius Rosé cuvées. First though, a very brief potted history; for more detail than the two paragraphs below, see my Bouvet-Ladubay profile, which has very recently been updated.
A Potted History
Few businesses have survived as long as 175 years, and most that have done so have endured lean times as well as good. This is certainly the case with Bouvet-Ladubay. Under Étienne himself the business enjoyed a golden era, the huge volumes of sparkling wine produced here under a myriad different labels almost constituting a licence to print money. He enjoyed great wealth, and he spent it in a philanthropic manner, funding the construction of municipal buildings and workers’ housing, as well as building extensive warehouses and a grand château for himself. The business was so eye-wateringly successful, many locals believed Bouvet had found treasure in his 8 kilometres of subterranean caves, galleries and cellars.
