Bérêche et Fils, and their cousin too! -- PLUS an in-store Champagne tasting this Wednesday with Champagne Solemme (5-7pm Wed. 9/13)

Though the concept of a "house wine" is usually associated with the restaurant world, I often present certain wines to our customers at Chambers Street using this phrase. Our house Chinon is the Baudry Domaine, and our house Muscadet is the Pepiere "Le Pepie," for example (sorry Jo!). With Champagne, it has become a bit difficult to have anything in the house long enough to call it a house wine, due to limited harvests and diminishing supplies of reserve wines. That said, the Champagnes from Bérêche et Fils have always been near and dear to the shop, and in my mind, if there was a Chambers Street "house Champagne" (besides Beaufort or Marguet), it would be Bérêche. For me, as a fledgling in the industry, the wines were my first subjects of study for Blanc de Blancs of Chardonnay, and Blanc de Noir bottlings of 100% Pinot Noir and 100% Pinot Meunier. They became a reference, and though there is still a world to explore in Champagne now that I understand how microclimates, exposition, terroir and technique come into play, the Bérêche wines remain indelible classics. Their Brut Reserve is the perfect wine to remind us of this fact. Every time we open a bottle, we all nod in silent agreement over how undeniably balanced and delicious it is. I usually break the silence with "Damn, Bérêche is so good." I feel like the Brut Reserve is also somehow better every year, but maybe that's because the bottles we open are fewer and farther between, thus the longing and satisfaction are heightened! 

Today we offer four flagship wines from Bérêche et Fils, their Brut Reserve from 2020 base, the 100% Pinot Meunier 'Rive Gauche,' 'Beaux Regards,' a bottling of 100% Chardonnay, and the Campania Remensis Rosé. We also are including four special bottlings by Raphael and Vincent's neice, Juliette Alips, who is running a small project called Domaine Les Monts Fournois. A new estate formally, it seems that she is continuing and elaborating on the original Maison Bérêche wines from years back. Fully in charge of her own enterprise now, after working with the Bérêche brothers for several years, she has released small amounts of vintage Champagnes (that bear the same minimalist label as the Maison Bérêche wines) as a prelude to new, estate wines that she will be bottling soon. We're happy to have these unique and rare bottlings on the shelf and look forward to more releases from Juliette!

--------------- Some archived text about the Bérêche wines for extra reading! -----------

At Bérêche et Fils, the energetic brothers Raphaël and Vincent turn out a range of inspiring Champagnes, which seem to improve with every vintage.

Since taking over the estate in 2004, they have worked organically, and have begun application of biodynamic treatments to a portion of the vines. In the cellar they have focused on fermenting in oak with native yeasts, aging under cork, and bottling with lower dosage.

The wines from their own vines in the Montagne de Reims and Vallée de la Marne are intensely flavored, mineral, and supple, balancing ripe fruit character with terroir distinction. The use of oak, as well as aging under cork rather than capsule for the secondary fermentation of the wines lends a faintly burnished character to the wines, adding an additional layer of complexity to the nose and palate.

-------------- More info on Les Monts Fournois! ---------------------------

Please excuse our use of the full text about the domaine from the importer. This is the first time we've carried the wines so we ddin't know a lot about the project until we read this informative text!

"Born in Champagne in a grower’s family, Juliette Alips rapidly found her passion. With the mentorship of her close cousins, Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche, she discovered and learned all the ins and outs of producing champagne, from farming, to vinification, tasting and blending.

Graduated from oenology school in Beaune in 2020, Juliette already has a few vintages under her belt with acclaimed producers like Louis Latour in Bourgogne, G.D. Vajra in Piedmont, and closer to home, Louis Roederer Champagne where she spent more than a year learning from this iconic maison. Now, with the help of her two cousins, she is starting this new adventure with Domaine Les Monts Fournois. Located in the north part of the Montagne de Reims, in the sub-area called La Grande Montagne, the Premier Cru Les Monts Fournois will be the focus of the domaine. Until the first vintage releases in a few years, the Domaine is offering a very small selection of vintage Grand Cru Champagne. Using the extensive and strong family grower relationships developed by her cousins, Juliette is able to source tiny quantities of superb champagne from iconic vineyards to craft these exceptional wines." (text courtesy of Wilson Daniels)

Though I am not positive of it, these are most likely from some of the same sites that Raphael and Vincent originally cherished, giving rise to the Maison Bereche "Crus Sélectionnées" wines that were not from their family's estate fruit, but from exceptional vineyards nearby. My guess is that Juliette was working with them on this project over the years, and has now taken the reigns, giving her an opportunity to work with great sites in Crmant and Marne while developing and starting her own domaine and releasing estate wines. Whatever the story is, we're happy to have her wines and of course the domaine wines from the Bérêche brothers!

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While we're on the subject of Champagne, we will have an in-store tasting with Champagne Solemme, a new and upcoming producer that we're already quite fond of! Tasting will be 5-7pm this Wednesday, 9/13 and a representative from the winery will be in house!