Bérêche et Fils

The Chalk Diaries: New Disgorgements and Vintage Wines
Bérêche et Fils

The Champenois are au fait with Australia's love affair with their sparkling wares, and even the greatest growers are gratefully aware of the discerning palates that greet their wines. Raphaël Bérêche asked us to pass on his sincere thanks to those of you who enthusiastically partook when we offered them late last year. To "make" it here matters.

 

A new container has made it here—and if that’s not cause for celebration, we don’t know what is! We’ve moved onto the 2021 base for the domaine’s remarkable old-vine Brut Réserve cuvée. Due to that vintage’s low yields, the current bottling has a greater-than-average percentage of reserve wine, with almost a 50:50 split with the base. Despite only vinifying one-third of a crop, Bérêche is more than satisfied with the quality of the year, which he feels brings a lovely laser beam of freshness to complement the warmer vintage that preceded it. The new disgorgement is as intense and thrilling as ever.

 

Like all Bérêche’s wines from this point onwards, the domaine’s Rosé is aged under cork, a traditional method of aging Champagne that largely died out with the arrival of new technology in the 1950s. Raphaël Bérêche explains that this old method, time-consuming as it is, delivers more texture to the mousse and more breadth to the palate. It works exquisitely for his beguilingly succulent and savoury Pinot-dominant Rosé, drawn from a historical parcel of family vines in Ormes, just west of Reims.

 

Sourced from two renowned parcels of vines on the chalky amphitheatre of Cramant, the taut, vinous 2018 Côte des Blancs Grand Cru makes a flawless case for how well this domaine is poised to tackle the onset of warmer, drier seasons in Champagne. The crystalline Pinot Noir from the north-facing, late-ripening Montagne Grand Cru of Mailly-Champagne is no less impressive. From a single press of 60-year-old Pinot Fin vines below the Verzenay windmill, the 2018 is an incisive, ultra-long Champagne laced with notes of blood orange and white flowers and with lingering earthy sweetness from red clay soils Bérêche compares with those of Volnay in the Côte de Beaune.

 

Introduced in 2014, Bérêche’s Aÿ Grand Cru will send shivers down your spine. Raph’s grin widens when talk turns to this renowned Marne Grand Cru, which he considers one of Champagne’s most complete Pinot Noir terroirs. We understand the 2016 vintage (which Bérêche has smashed) to be the last from purchased fruit. The next vintage—some way off, we’re afraid—will emerge from a single hectare of newly purchased vines (2020) in La Côte Linguard. Bring it on.

The Wines

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 21. Disg Jun 2024)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 21. Disg Jun 2024)

Disgorged June 2024. This cuvée has become synonymous with the extreme quality that can today be expected from Champagne’s finest estates. The current release is based on the 2021 vintage and was disgorged in June 2024. Due to the low yields of 2021, the new release comprises 55% fruit from the base vintage, with the balance from the two previous years. The blend is split between 35% Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims (specifically Ludes, Trépail and Ormes), 35% Chardonnay from sites across the Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne, and 30% Meunier from Mareuil-le-Port in Vallée de la Marne. Ludes and Trépail provide the tension, offsetting the depth and texture of the Marne fruit and reserve wines. The average vine age is 40 years.

The hard-harvested fruit ferments naturally in barrel before aging in barrel and tank. After bottling, the wine spends 36 months sur lattes in the Bérêche cellar, and finally, disgorgement by hand (!) with just over 5 g/L dosage. This is the kind of fastidious attention to detail you would expect from the finest prestige cuvées, and it shines through in the quality of the wine. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) is spot-on when he writes: “Although most readers probably associate Bérêche with some of their higher-end bottlings, the Brut Réserve is a real rock star.” The style is taut and focused; the wine’s natural density and texture are superbly balanced by crystalline acidity and smoky mineral resonance. Simply, it’s one of the most compelling introductions to elite grower Champagne on the market. 

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 21. Disg Jun 2024)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg Mar 2024) (1500ml)
Sold Out
Added

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg Mar 2024) (1500ml)

This cuvée has become synonymous with the kind of extreme quality that can today be expected from Champagne’s finest estates. The current release is based on the 2020 vintage and was disgorged in February 2024. Like its predecessors, this release comprises 65% fruit from the base vintage, with the balance from the two previous years. The blend is split between 35% Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims (specifically Ludes, Trépail and Ormes), 35% Chardonnay from sites across Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne and 30% Meunier from Mareuil-le-Port in Vallée de la Marne. Ludes and Trépail provide the tension, offsetting the depth and texture of the Marne fruit and reserve wines. The average vine age is 40 years.

The hard-harvested fruit ferments naturally in barrel before aging in barrel and tank. After bottling, the wine spends 36 months sur lattes in the Bérêche cellar, and finally, disgorgement by hand (!) with just under 6 g/L dosage. This is the kind of fastidious attention to detail you would expect from the finest prestige cuvées, and it shines through in the quality of the wine. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) is spot-on when he writes: “Although most readers probably associate Bérêche with some of their higher-end bottlings, the Brut Réserve is a real rock star.” The style is taut and focused; the wine’s natural density and texture are superbly balanced by crystalline acidity and smoky mineral resonance. Simply, it’s one of the most compelling introductions to elite grower Champagne on the market.

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg Mar 2024) (1500ml)
Sold Out
Added
Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg. Feb 2024) (3000ml)
Sold Out
Added

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg. Feb 2024) (3000ml)

This cuvée has become synonymous with the kind of extreme quality that can today be expected from Champagne’s finest estates. The current release is based on the 2020 vintage and was disgorged in February 2024. Like its predecessors, this release comprises 65% fruit from the base vintage, with the balance from the two previous years. The blend is split between 35% Pinot Noir from Montagne de Reims (specifically Ludes, Trépail and Ormes), 35% Chardonnay from sites across Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne and 30% Meunier from Mareuil-le-Port in Vallée de la Marne. Ludes and Trépail provide the tension, offsetting the depth and texture of the Marne fruit and reserve wines. The average vine age is 40 years.

The hard-harvested fruit ferments naturally in barrel before aging in barrel and tank. After bottling, the wine spends 36 months sur lattes in the Bérêche cellar, and finally, disgorgement by hand (!) with just under 6 g/L dosage. This is the kind of fastidious attention to detail you would expect from the finest prestige cuvées, and it shines through in the quality of the wine. Antonio Galloni (Vinous) is spot-on when he writes: “Although most readers probably associate Bérêche with some of their higher-end bottlings, the Brut Réserve is a real rock star.” The style is taut and focused; the wine’s natural density and texture are superbly balanced by crystalline acidity and smoky mineral resonance. Simply, it’s one of the most compelling introductions to elite grower Champagne on the market.

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve Vieilles Vignes Non Filtrée NV (Base 20. Disg. Feb 2024) (3000ml)
Sold Out
Added
Champagne Bérêche et Fils Campania Remensis Rosé 2020 (Disg. Apr 2024)
Added

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Campania Remensis Rosé 2020 (Disg. Apr 2024)

Bérêche’s succulent and salty rosé uses the Roman name for the countryside around Reims. The 2020 is a blend of 70% Pinot Noir and Meunier with 25% Chardonnay, topped up with 5% still red. The fruit is sourced from vines planted by the brothers’ maternal grandmother in the 1950s. These three hectares of old vines are deeply rooted in the sandy Les Montées vineyard in Ormes, just west of Reims.

Disgorged by hand with 3.5 g/L dosage, the palate unpeels with flavours of red berries and Bandol-like blood orange, tobacco and sweet spices complemented by chalky mineral and saline notes. But it’s just as much about the texture, which is pillowy and charming before tapering to an incisive, fine-boned finish. We’ll leave the last word to Jamie Goode, who wrote in 2015 that Bérêche’s wine “is one of the best rosé Champagnes that I’ve had. It’s so beautiful.” Or perhaps to William Kelley: “exquisitely ethereal”. Or Jancis Robinson: “a rosé for the table. Perfume and gorgeousness.” Speaking of the table, Raphaël tells us that his favourite match with this wine, so far, is roast pigeon (à la Racine in Reims). Some guys have all the luck.

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Campania Remensis Rosé 2020 (Disg. Apr 2024)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Mailly-Champagne Blanc de Noirs 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Mailly-Champagne Blanc de Noirs 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)

The Bérêche brothers purchased this magnificent plot in 2011. It’s the estate’s first and most prized Grand Cru. Situated between Ludes and Verzenay in Montagne de Reims, Mailly’s chalky subsoil and predominance of north-facing slopes bring out a unique mineral freshness in Pinot Noir. Vincent and Raphaël are no strangers to Mailly; previously, as much as 70% of their Montagne cuvée was drawn from this Grand Cru. Raphaël describes his decision to jump on the offer of a 0.4-hectare parcel of 60-year-old Pinot Fin vines rooted in the rich clay and chalk of the Les Chalois vineyard as the easiest of his life.

The wine was vinified with indigenous yeasts in oak barrels up to 600 litres in size. It spent 48 months under cork before disgorgement. The dosage was 3.8 g/L. This wine is the only independent bottling of the Mailly Grand Cru we have come across, and it gives us a taste of what we have been missing. In style, it’s an incisive and super-pure Champagne with an array of flavours stretching out over citrus oil, stone fruit and herbal notes, as well as a distinctive aniseed/liquorice note.

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Mailly-Champagne Blanc de Noirs 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Cramant 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Cramant 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)

The Cramant Grand Cru is a Blanc de Blancs sourced from two small plots: Le Bateau in the northeast of the village and the Chemin de Châlons plot (of Selosse fame) at its southern extreme. The vines are owned and expertly managed by Florent and Julien Mignon. The grapes from these great terroirs, with their chalky soils and 40-plus-year-old mass-selection vines, strike an incredible balance between structure, finesse and fruit intensity. This cuvée was vinified with indigenous yeasts in barrel and spent 54 months on lees before disgorgement. The dosage was 3.3 g/L.

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Cramant 2018 (Disg. Jul 2023)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Aӱ 2016 (Disg. Nov 2023)
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Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Aӱ 2016 (Disg. Nov 2023)

Champagne authority Peter Liem writes that “among all Champagne villages, Aӱ is the most historically esteemed… Today, its terroir is still just as storied, and its grapes are sought after by winemakers across the region.” It is perhaps no surprise that the poet Alfred de Vigny declared in 1853 that “the mousse of Aÿ radiates happiness”. From a Grand Cru where Pinot Noir reigns supreme, Bérêche’s cuvée is sourced from less than a hectare of 40+-year-old vines at 280 metres’ elevation in the cool parcels of Brise Pot and Froide-Terre, bordering Mutigny in Grande Vallée de la Marne, where thin topsoils (at a maximum of 30cm) rest over dense Campanian chalk. 

Pinot Noir (75%) and Chardonnay (25%) fermented slowly in barrels and aged on lees in bottle for 78 months. The dosage was under 3 g/L. It’s a striking, penetrating Champagne whose depth of crystalline white fruits and soft spices is matched by its sinewy, chalky length and cut-glass precision. A flat-out stunner. 

Champagne Bérêche et Fils Grand Cru Aӱ 2016 (Disg. Nov 2023)
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“In the village of Ludes in the Northern portion of the Montagne de Reims, brothers Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche are quietly crafting sophisticated, terroir-expressive champagnes that are poised to rival the region’s best.” Peter Liem, Champagne

“I've been following the wines of brothers Vincent and Raphaël Bérêche since my student days, and it's been thrilling to watch them go from strength to strength.”
William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

“Brothers Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche have made the family domaine, which dates back to 1847, into one of Champagne’s bright lights with an emphasis on organic and biodynamic farming and structure-building winemaking that leads to wines of power and substance held together by fine balance.” Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay, The Sommelier's Atlas of Taste

“My tasting at Bérêche was one of the highlights of the week I spent in Champagne. Quite frankly, the wines have never been better. Everything feels elevated here of late, as readers will see in gleaning through the notes. Chapeau.” Antonio Galloni, Vinous

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