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 2022 vintage and was disgorged in November 2024. Like its predecessors, the 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, is disgorged by hand (!) with around 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.

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.

Driven by Vincent and Raphaël’s desire to bottle “a true picture of the [Ludes] terroir,” Le Cran was first made in 2004. They chose two of their finest old-vine Premier Cru parcels planted by their grandfather, which now have an average age of 50 years. These sites, rich in limestone and chalk, are the highest in Ludes. The blend is equally split between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—the former from the west-facing vineyard of Les Hautes Plantes, planted in 1969, while the Pinot comes from 1973 vines planted in the east-facing lieu-dit of Les Vignes Saint-Jean.

Le Cran is arguably the most smouldering, mineral and tightly wound of the Bérêche single-vineyard wines. Viticulture and vine age result in lower yields of concentrated fruit, balanced by super-low pH, naturally racy acidity and intense chalky minerality. The current release is jaw-dropping. A wine like this will go with anything delicious (even if the dream match would be oven- or BBQ-roasted fish). Le Cran is vinified with indigenous yeasts in oak barrels up to 600 litres in size. The current release aged for 72 months in the cellar, mostly on lees in bottle under cork. Dosage for the 2017 was around 3 g/L.

Driven by Vincent and Raphaël’s desire to bottle “a true picture of the [Ludes] terroir,” Le Cran was first made in 2004. They chose two of their finest old-vine Premier Cru parcels planted by their grandfather, which now have an average age of 50 years. These sites, rich in limestone and chalk, are the highest in Ludes. The blend is equally split between Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—the former from the west-facing vineyard of Les Hautes Plantes, planted in 1969, while the Pinot comes from 1973 vines planted in the east-facing lieu-dit of Les Vignes Saint-Jean.

Le Cran is arguably the most smouldering, mineral and tightly wound of the Bérêche single-vineyard wines. Viticulture and vine age result in lower yields of concentrated fruit, balanced by super-low pH, naturally racy acidity and intense chalky minerality. The current release is jaw-dropping. A wine like this will go with anything delicious (even if the dream match would be oven- or BBQ-roasted fish). Le Cran is vinified with indigenous yeasts in oak barrels up to 600 litres in size. The current release aged for 72 months in the cellar, mostly on lees in bottle under cork. Dosage for the 2017 was around 3 g/L.

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.

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 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.