All wines
Bérêche & Fils
Aÿ Grand Cru
2016
4.6
Region
France › Champagne › Vallée de la Marne › Aÿ › Champagne AOC
Type
white · traditional · sparkling · extra-brut
Grapes
Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Alcohol
12.5%
Volume
750 mL
Dosage
3 g/L
Disgorged
2023-11
On lees
~78 months (~7 years)
Available at
- Wine Bureau#S0398
Tasting Notes(1)
4.6
Cheese crisps. That toasted, cheesy crust, first thing out of the glass - and then the wine keeps unpacking: berries, lemon, cream, perfume, a bit of pineapple, meringue, smoke, baked apple. This is Champagne at its most vinous, almost full-bodied, powerful and voluminous, with acidity that carries all that weight effortlessly down a long finish. Texture, depth, length - love this wine.
About
Ay Grand Cru 2016 is part of Bérêche's small lieu-dit / single-village range, sourced from two parcels in Ay totalling around 0.6 hectares: Brise Pot (Chardonnay) and Froide Terre (Pinot Noir). The cuvee was first made in the 2014 vintage and is a co-fermented blend - the typical split being roughly 75% Pinot Noir / 25% Chardonnay, with some vintages skewing closer to 80/20 (per trade-press writeups). The fruit is fermented and aged together in oak, in the house style.
78 months on lees, disgorged in November 2023 as Extra Brut. Ay is the Pinot Noir reference of Champagne and the wine carries that village structure - co-fermentation with a touch of Chardonnay softens the ride without diluting it.
