Champagne - Grand Cru - Prestige - Aurélien Dauvergne

Aurélien Dauvergne's Champagne Grand Cru Prestige Brut is the flagship wine of this récoltant-manipulant from Bouzy - and the difference compared with the Tradition is immediately apparent in the glass. Where the Tradition balances Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in an elegant, approachable three-vintage cuvée, the Prestige focuses entirely on absolute purity: 100% Pinot Noir from Bouzy Grand Cru, vinified as a white wine to create a blanc de noirs of extraordinary depth and complexity.

 Blanc de noirs is one of the most fascinating and difficult styles to produce in Champagne - making a white wine from red-skinned grapes requires extremely rapid, gentle pressing to prevent any colour extraction. The result is a Champagne with the structure, power and aromatic depth of Pinot Noir - Bouzy's signature variety - presented with the clarity and elegance of a blanc. A wonderful oenological oxymoron that only the finest Meunier and Pinot Noir récoltants truly know how to create.

Aurélien Dauvergne works in Bouzy, one of the most respected Grand Cru villages in the Montagne de Reims, classified at 100% - the highest level on Champagne's Grand Cru scale. The vineyards' chalk and limestone soils produce Pinot Noir of exceptional concentration and minerality, with the typical roundness and depth of fruit that set Bouzy wines apart from any other Grand Cru in the region. The grapes are vinified as a white wine with alcoholic and malolactic fermentation; reserve wines are added to ensure complexity and consistency, and the final cuvée undergoes bottle fermentation using the classic méthode champenoise. It matures on its lees for 36 months - three times the minimum for non-vintage Champagne - developing rich, layered autolytic complexity. After disgorgement, the wine rests for several additional months in the bottle before release.

On the nose it is richer, deeper and more structured than the Tradition: quince, ripe yellow peach, apricot, buttered brioche, hazelnut paste, acacia honey, yellow flowers and an intense, persistent chalky minerality that speaks directly of Bouzy's soil. On the palate it is creamy and enveloping - the bubbles are exceptionally fine and persistent, the body is full and generous thanks to the purity of the Pinot Noir, the acidity is precise and vertical, and the finish is long and complex, with successive waves of yellow fruit, yeast, minerality and a hint of toasted caramel. Serve at 8-10°C in a tulip-shaped glass to express its full aromatic complexity. At €40 for a Grand Cru blanc de noirs from a récoltant with 36 months on the lees, it is simply one of the best buys available in the premium Champagne category.