Brut Nature

When Rémi Leroy returned to his family's Côte des Bar estate in 2006 after completing a Masters in Oenology at Bordeaux, he made a deliberate break from the blending-house model — vinifying each parcel individually and describing his goal as 'More than Champagne, Champagne wine.'

That philosophy is most legible in this Brut Nature, where zero dosage strips away any cushion between the drinker and the terroir.

The 9.5 hectares span Meurville, Bergères, and Fontaine in the Aube, planted on Kimmeridgian clay-limestone — the same Jurassic geology that defines Chablis — with east and southwest exposures along the Le Landion tributary. That cold, mineral-dense substrate drives the wine's chiselled, saline backbone, a character more Chablis than Marne.

The blend is 70% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Meunier, with 30% reserve wine drawn from a perpetual solera started in 2009. Fermentation proceeds with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel (85%) and used Burgundian barrels (15%) sourced from Hubert Lamy of St-Aubin and Thomas Pico of Chablis.

Must is handled entirely by gravity; the wine is unfined and unfiltered, with 18–20 months on lees before disgorgement and zero dosage at bottling.

What distinguishes this cuvée within the Brut Nature category is the solera reserve system — a structural backbone that adds textural depth and continuity across base vintages without any dosage compensation.

The 2022 base vintage is described as powerful and mineral, with structured persistence; the solera component softens the vintage's intensity while preserving its drive. Drinking well now through 2028+.