Amaury Beaufort is from a small but steadily growing class of Champenois who are foremost concerned with soil health, the wine nearly an afterthought. This is based on the theory that a blooming biosphere below... Read More

Amaury Beaufort is from a small but steadily growing class of Champenois who are foremost concerned with soil health, the wine nearly an afterthought. This is based on the theory that a blooming biosphere below equals grapes destined for greatness in the bottle. He, and the few others like him (Emelien Feneuil, Vincent Couche, Marie Courtin, etc), might just be on to something.

In 2017 Amaury relinquished his role at André Beaufort, his family's estate, as well as the négociant projects he ran with his brothers. He acquired a .88 ha parcel in the Aube planted by his father in 1972. It's surrounded on two sides by forest, and the other two by family plots. The site always been farmed organically, but on his own he has the chance to implement his more renegade ideas. It is his personal garden .

For starters, he prunes very late — a move that allowed his vines to go unscathed during the deadly frost of 2021, as they hadn't started bud burst yet. During the growing season he avoids trimming the leaves and shoots after noticing that where cuts are made, maladies follow. Maybe most importantly, he doesn't till, allowing for carbon sequestration, water retention, and yield reduction. This is a a big change for Champagne, known its for high yields; less bunches means more concentration per berry, as practitioners like Cedric Bouchard and Ulysse Collin can tell you.

In the cellar Amaury continues his renegade experiment. All fermentations, both primary and secondary, are with natural yeasts. For the latter the liqueur de tirage is made by a recipe inherited from his father. Vin clair sees an almost unheard of 21 months in neutral barrel, with the intention of allowing layers of minerality to develop before aging sur latte. Wines might receive SO2 or not, depending on the vintage, but the idea is that clean fruit plus time equals stability and longevity.

These are some of the most fascinating, vinous, and with only .88 hectares to work with, inherently rare Champagnes we've come across.