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225 Champagne AC NV Brut Reflet d’Antan
Bérèche & FilsGrape:33% Chardonnay, 34% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier (12% alc.)
This is a very specialist champagne designed to show how complex reserve wines can become with age. Fermented in cuve, the wines for Reflet are selected in May following vintage, kept in cuve for another year, then introduced into a solera system (500 and 600ltr barrels) that was started in 1985. Once a year they bottle off two thirds leaving the balance to blend with the next wines into the solera. There is a crossover with wine from Jura here, the champagne offers incredible complexity, dried fruits, almonds, honey, minerality. Dosage 6g/l. Very limited quantity. For drinking now to 2014.
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: 34% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meunier, 33% Chardonnay. 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. Fermented 100% in enamel lined vats. The fermentation lasts between 1-2 months. Rack once when adds sulphur to prevent malo-lactic fermentation (in order to preserve freshness). The wines for Reflet are selected in May following vintage, kept in cuve for another year then introduced into a solera system (500 and 600ltr barrels) that was started in 1985. Once a year they bottle off 2/3 leaving the balance to blend with the next wines into the solera. Bottled off in June and spend 3 years sur latte. 24 g/l of sugar for the secondary fermentation. Disgorged by hand with a 6 g/l of dosage (old reserve wines and organic cane sugar). Press: