n.v. Bérêche et Fils, Brut Reserve, Vignes Vieilles, Champagne, France.
I hadn’t had the Bérêche et Fils, after years of my Champagne geek friends telling me of the joys of this rarity, so it was very exciting and a thrill to enjoy a bottle and share it with friends for the Holidays, and it didn’t disappoint with its distinctive personality, luxurious mousse and lovely balance. This golden hued and small bubble mousse Brut Reserve Champagne is full of contrast, with bright dry intensity and mature richness, it shows off cider apples, bruised Bosc pear, lemon tart, white cherry, golden fig and dried apricots, along with sea shore, hazelnut, crystallized ginger and steely mineral notes, as well as tasty yeasty biscuit and roundness. This bubbly really was nice in the glass, ever changing and adds even more range with air and was even better with food, highlighting the serious nature of this fine effort. This grower producer estate has many different terroirs in their parcels with vines, which is planted equally to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, including holdings in Ludes on the chalky solis of Montagne de Reims, in Ormes, in the Petite Montagne de Reims and Mareuil le Port, in the western Vallée de la Marne. I’m glad I was finally able to get this Bérêche grower fizz and I’ll certainly greedily try to get more than my own share in the future, I’m usually into the racer styles, such as Extra Brut, Brut Nature and Zero Dosage, but this was a fabulous bottle of bubbly.
I understand that typically the Bérêche et Fils Brut Réserve is a blend of 70% wines from the base year with the balance being blended from older reserve wines, it is composed from approximately one-third each of the three major varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier to add to the depth, structure and complexity this brilliant Champagne. That said, Bérêche et Fils reports that this disgorgement of their non vintage Brut Réserve has a base of 2021 and is a bit of an unusual release, in that the reserve wines in this edition accounted for close to 45% of the blend because the base year was so challenging for Champagne, but as they add, and I can confirm, this wine turned out excellent and is well worth searching out. Rare Wine Co, the importer says that Champagne Bérêche dates back to 1847, with Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche now in charge here, and who have emerged as true cult stars within Champagne’s grower community. Going on they believe this non-vintage Brut Réserve has few rivals for purity and character at the price. Working with organic and biodynamic methods, Bérêche, uses a third each of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay for this wine, with that big portion being drawn from a perpetual reserve of 600-liter lees aged oak barrels, which begun in 1985 by Raphaël’s and Vincent’s father, Jean- Pierre, additionally the En Tirage (in bottle yeast aging) is done under cork and this cuvée was unfiltered. Thee are really hard to find, but I suggest chasing down some bottles!
($75 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive