Bérêche & Fils Ambonnay Grand Cru Millésime 2016

This old domaine was founded in 1847. Yet, it has been the innovative work of young Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche that has made this one of the most talked about Champagne houses of recent times.

Building on a strong foundation of traditional Champagne making learned from their father Jean-Pierre, the brothers became two of the region’s most insatiably curious vignerons.

Key to the fantastic complexity of their cuvées are the number of different terroirs that make up the estate’s holdings. Their holdings can be found, for example, in their home village of Ludes on the chalky Montagne de Reims, in Ormes, in the Petite Montagne de Reims and Mareuil le Port, in the western Vallée de la Marne.

These are augmented by small plots in Trépail on the eastern slope of the Montagne de Reims, from 2012, the estate’s first Grand Cru site, a tiny parcel in Mailly and in 2013 a half-hectare in Rilly la Montagne, just west of Ludes. Apart from the Brut Réserve, Raphaël and Vincent experiment tirelessly with the character of these very different terroirs, creating a compellingly expressive, complex and refined range of cuvées prized for their originality.