With a history stretching back to 1847, Champagne Bérêche et Fils has found itself revitalized as the brothers, the family’s fifth generation, have taken the reins. The domaine owns vines in several different sectors of Champagne, with the three primary areas being the immediate vicinity around Ludes and Craon de Ludes, the gravelly terroir of Ormes in the Petite Montagne, and the area around Mareuil-le-Port, on the left bank of the Vallée de la Marne. A small parcel is also found in Trépail, in the eastern Montagne de Reims.

The estate's vineyards are planted with roughly equal parts of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, and attention is increasingly being paid to natural viticulture — the brothers completely stopped using chemical herbicides in 2004 and have planted cover crops in all of the vineyards; since 2007 a portion of the vineyard has been converted to biodynamics.

This turn towards natural viticulture, combined with a renewed focus on the details of work in the cellar, has propelled new energy into the domaine’s champagnes.

In Bérêche’s cellar, parcels are always vinified separately. After a gentle pressing, slow fermentation occurs on the lees in neutral French oak barrels. Over the years, the family has slowly been increasing the percentage of oak used in the cellar, and today about three-quarters of the production is vinified in barrel.

Malolactic fermentation is systematically avoided. All of their wines mature on fine lees and are racked off by gravity. The second fermentation occurs under cork sur lattes for 2 to 8 years before disgorgement by hand. Dosage levels vary depending on the particular wine. The brothers diligently track how their past cuvées are ageing and, drawing from these observations, they fine tune the succeeding cuvées’ dosage policies.

It is attention to these fine details that has turned one of Champagne’s top growers into a truly iconic domaine. The brothers’ love for their vineyards along with their passion for terroir-focused Champagne has promoted their mission to “excel in precision, tradition and respect for life” and their glorious champagnes are unequivocal proof that their efforts have been handsomely rewarded.

As always, the Bérêche Champagnes are built on vinous texture, an expression of the land and total sensuality. — Antonio Galloni Bérêche’s wines are full in flavor and finely balanced […] With each successive year they seem to be acquiring more vinosity and complexity… — Peter Liem

One taste of their Brut Réserve NV is all it takes to prove that this domaine sits comfortably in the top echelon of grower champagnes. Indeed, the Brut Réserve — a blend of 70% wines from the base year with the balance being reserve wines — is undeniably authoritative and compelling. Peter Liem was absolutely spot on when he told us that we should look into this again. When we tasted it anew last year, it convinced us beyond any doubt that Bérêche’s Champagne-making game had now reached the realm of the greats. A model of harmony, nuance and verve, the Brut Réserve is a pure expression of the domaine’s varied terroirs that demonstrates both the Bérêche brothers’ great skill as well as their originality. It is one of the best examples of an NV Champagne to be found anywhere.

The domaine also produces several individual limited-release cuvées, all of them aged under cork. These are truly singular expressions, beloved by grower Champagne connoisseurs for their unique character and complexity.

Bérêche now ages their cuvées under cork, a costlier and more laborious approach, but instrumental to crafting deeper, more complex champagnes

The Rive Gauche is a pure Pinot Meunier Champagne from vines nearly half a century old, planted in chalky clay in the Le Port à Binson section of the Vallée de la Marne. The purity, intensity and elegance of its expression, both of variety and terroir, sets it apart from the handful of other top all-Meunier Champagnes being made today.

The Bérêche rosé, Campania Remensis, uses the Roman name for the countryside around Reims. It also comes from a single terroir, the village of Ormes, just west of Reims in the Petite Montagne. It is two-thirds Pinot Noir — including a small percentage of still wine for colour — with the balance being Chardonnay. It is, like all of the domaine’s wines, a Champagne of unusual originality and elegance.

The cuvée named Rilly-la-Montagne — a pure Pinot Noir from the premier cru village of the same name, west of Ludes — is a new addition to the domaine’s portfolio, debuting with vintage 2013. From a half-hectare of 36-year-old vines in the Les Sablons lieu-dit, it is an exotically perfumed, vivid Champagne, courtesy of the limestone and sand soil and steep slope of its site.

Arguably the most original of all in this lineup of singular champagnes is the Reflet d’Antan. It is made of one-third each of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, drawn from a perpetual reserve of 600-litre barrels begun by Jean-Pierre in 1985. A solera in all but name, every year two-thirds of the wine in each barrel is drawn off and replaced with that from the latest vintage. After aging for four years on the lees, the resulting multi-vintage blend is a riveting, complex Champagne that seamlessly marries richness, texture and depth, and does so with startling freshness and lift.

This offer is valid until 23 April 2021. Orders will be processed subject to remaining availability and final written confirmation. Some wines have restrictive supplies, so please understand that we may have to allocate them in order to ensure as equitable a distribution as possible. Full payment is required in order to confirm the purchase. All terms and conditions apply.