Grains de Celles - Rose

When Aurélien Gerbais restructured the range in 2021, he simultaneously moved to zero added SO2 during vinification and ageing — a transparency commitment that separates this house from virtually every Récoltant-Manipulant in the Aube. The Rosé 'Grains de Celles' is built on Kimmeridgian marl and Portlandian clay-limestone soils in Celles-sur-Ource, at the confluence of the Seine, Arce, Laigne, and Ource river valleys — geology shared with Chablis and the Côte d'Or, delivering a chalky, saline tension that anchors the wine's structure. Fruit is hand-harvested from 40-year-average-age vines and pressed in a traditional Coquard; primary fermentation proceeds in stainless steel with indigenous pied-de-cuve yeasts, full malolactic completed in tank, and parcels vinified separately before blending. Reserve wines rest in used demi-muids sourced from Domaine Olivier Lamy in Saint-Aubin, held in a perpetual reserve system initiated in 2011. The wine ages sur lattes for a minimum of 30–36 months, is bottled unfiltered and unfined, and receives an Extra Brut dosage of just 3 g/L using rectified grape must rather than cane sugar. The 2021 vintage is the first under the fully reformed, single-vineyard-oriented range — expect the Kimmeridgian mineral spine to be particularly pronounced, with the low-SO2 protocol lending an unusually vivid, unmediated fruit character. Drink now through 2028.