Champagne Grand Cru Mailly 2020 Bérêche & Fils | Champagne

The Mailly Grand Cru Champagne from Bérêche & Fils exemplifies the unique approach of Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche, who have taken their vision of terroir-driven champagne to its fullest by offering single-village cuvées, including this Grand Cru from Mailly-Champagne, introduced with the 2013 vintage. Sourced from a single 0.4-hectare plot, known as Les Chalois, in the heart of the Mailly-Champagne Grand Cru, on the heights of the Montagne de Reims, this blanc de noirs made exclusively from Pinot Noir comes from vines over sixty years old, rooted in soils of brown clay and chalk. The family wine estate, founded in the 1840s and now run by the two brothers, has established itself as one of the most influential names in Champagne’s winemaking community, driven by viticulture focused on soil health and plot-by-plot winemaking of the utmost precision.

Philippe Mischler, sommelier at Mundovin: The Mailly Grand Cru Champagne from Bérêche & Fils is one of the champagnes that impresses him most with its ability to combine density and tension in perfect balance. It embodies the austerity of Mailly at its most noble and accomplished—a wine for fine dining and aging that will reward the most patient connoisseurs for their wait.

The nose reveals immediate originality, combining notes of rhubarb, black cherry, and pepper, on an airy and precise framework that one spontaneously associates with Mailly’s Grand Cru. The bubbles, of exceptional finesse, carry this bouquet with vinous richness, freshness, and balance, gradually revealing, as it breathes, a mineral and chalky dimension that signals the deep roots of this terroir.

On the palate, the attack is delicate before giving way to dense, energetic, long-lasting, and briny textures, magnified by the precision and purity of the style. The finish, with its long-lasting minerality, confirms the remarkable ageing potential of this exclusive cuvée, which promises to evolve beautifully after several years in the cellar.