When it comes to individuality in Champagne, the Aube is a good place to start. Geographically, it’s on Champagne’s southern fringe — closer to Chablis than to Reims — and culturally, it’s always felt a bit like the wild west. Growers here are often more experimental and less tied to tradition.

Julien Prélat fits that mold. Working on Kimmeridgian soils (the same fossil-rich limestone found in Chablis and Sancerre), he makes wines that are precise, textural, and mineral — but also distinctly his own. In 2017, he planted Pinot Gris, a grape that was historically part of Champagne’s field blends but is now rarely seen. It's still permitted under AOC rules, though almost no one uses it. Prélat saw potential.

“Blanc de Gris” is the result: a Champagne made entirely from Pinot Gris grown on marine limestone and crafted with a light touch — native yeast fermentation, minimal intervention, and low dosage. The idea is not to polish the wine into something crowd-pleasing, but to let the grape and the place speak. And it works. It’s delicious, vivid, and even radical — a Champagne that rewrites the rules without shouting about it. Serve it with something just as surprising and summery, like grilled peach and burrata salad with prosciutto and basil.

This wine might seem a touch less rebellious, but that’s only if you don’t look too closely.

Forest-Marie farms in Trigny, a small Premier Cru village west of Reims that almost never gets mentioned — not because it isn’t good, but because it flies under the radar. The soils here are classic chalk, and the wines, in the right hands, can age beautifully.

Which brings us to this bottle. A vintage 2012, disgorged after over 10 years aging on the lees — an extraordinary commitment of time and cellar space, especially for a small domaine. Combine that with classic Grower touches (hand harvesting, no filtration, low dosage) and you get something distinctly profound: a Champagne of depth, finesse, and complexity that could never be replicated via mass-production.

This is a contemplative wine — more about rich, vinous layers than stylistic flash. Don’t let it be overwhelmed with an elaborate pairing. We suggest you enjoy it slowly, perhaps after dinner with a few slices of aged Comté or a wedge of Brie de Meaux.