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224 Champagne AC NV Brut Réserve
Bérèche & FilsGrape:35% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 35% Pinot Meunier (12% alc.)
Based on the 2007 vintage (with 30% reserve wine from the previous two vintages) with a dosage of 9g/l, this has ripe, clear-cut fruit, good texture and vinosity, with a touch of saline minerality. A style that Jancis Robinson finds ‘as perfumed as Riesling, no higher praise.’
* Half bottles are available
Technical Information Winemaker: Famille Bérèche Location: Ludes 1er Cru, Chigny les Roses 1er Cru, Trepail 1er Cru, Ormes, Mareuil le Port, Festigny Size of
domaine:9.3 hectares (over 6 hectares used for this cuvee) Grape: 35% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Meunier, 30% Pinot Noir. 32 years old on average. 8300 vines per hectare: massale selection. Terroir: Limestone-clay, sand, flint, chalk soils (with lots of fossils). Average 15% slopes. 80 metres above sea level. Mix of aspects from north (exceptionally) for Mareuil (to capture the freshness of Pinot Meunier) to largely south-west through to south-east for the other sites. Average depth of soil 25-30cm above the chalk. Viticulture: 8 hectares conducted in ‘carefully considered’ viticulture and 1 hectare in bio-dynamism since 2007. 7 full-time employees work in the vineyard/cave. Debud twice so never need to practice vendanges en vert. Plough in the spring and autumn. Control the growth of grass (cut back when too vigorous). No herbicides. Have a large team of 40 harvesters for the manual harvest. Control the quality of harvesters’ work rigorously. Yields of 72 hectos per hectare in 2007. Vinification: Use a pneumatic press. Allow juice to settle for 12 hours, no enzymes used. Natural, indigenous yeasts only for initial fermentation. 85% of the wine is vinified in enamel lined vats and 15% in 4 to 5 year old barrels. The fermentation lasts between 1-2 months. Racked once and add sulphur to prevent malo-lactic fermentation (in order to preserve freshness). The wine aged in oak is unfiltered, the wines aged in cuve are filtered by cellulose plaques. Bottled off in June after 9 months. 30% of the wine comes from the 2 preceding vintages. 18 month sur latte, under cap. 24 g/l for the secondary fermentation. 9 g/l of dosage (made of old reserve wines and organic cane sugar). Kept for 3 months in cave before release. Press: