Though Pauline Collin-Bérêche had quietly produced tiny quantities since 2016, it was the brilliant 2019 that truly announced the arrival of an important new voice in grower Champagne. Today, we’re thrilled to share the delicious 2020, a stunning new release that shows even greater confidence and precision.
Pauline comes from a long line of growers in the high-elevation Montagne de Reims village of Ludes. Her great-grandfather founded the local cooperative in 1945, and over generations the family assembled an exceptional collection of old vines planted in the clay, limestone and flint soils surrounding the village. It was Pauline’s grandmother who tended the vines while the men in the family ran the day-to-day operations of the co-op.
For decades, the family remained content to sell fruit from their own meticulously farmed vineyards, rather than bottle wine under their own name. Pauline changed all that.
Beginning with the 2016 vintage, after working for Krug and Ruinart as well as alongside her husband, the much-loved Raphaël Bérêche, Pauline began reclaiming some of the family’s finest parcels to farm, vinify and bottle herself. The focus has always been the most pure expression of contemporary Grower philosophy: one wine, one terroir, one vintage.
The 2020 is composed of 70% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 5% Petit Meslier from just two hectares of old vines on the cool northern side of the Ludes slope. It's vinified and aged in a neutral barrel, then aged for 48 months sur-lattes before disgorgement. Dosage is a mere 2 grams. The style is classic, poised and finely nuanced.
With climate change, we are just loving these north-facing slopes. 2020 was a tough vintage for most of Champagne, but the vintage’s warmer weather was a blessing in Ludes. The wine is deliciously ripe, yet finely balanced by ultra-crisp acidity and saline mineral snap that keeps the resonant white orchard fruit in clear focus. The inclusion of Petit Meslier has also become one of Pauline’s signatures. This rare local variety contributes a clear aromatic lift, spice, and bracing edge.
Pauline Collin Bereche Champagne 1er Cru Vieilles Vignes Ludes 2019 - $119.99
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