2014 Vintage Brut, Germar Breton, Champagne, France

Winner of "best sparkling wine", Wine Merchant Top 100

Elegant, refined and creamy - this vintage, which can be enjoyed as an aperitif, will delicately accompany hot or cold shellfish, poultry with a white sauce, and noble sea and river fish

The grapes here are hand harvested. The wine undergoes alcoholic fermentation followed by malolactic fermentation before being blended . Sugar is then added to the wines and they are bottled with a crown cap to undergo the secondary fermentation which makes the fine bubbles. The wine is left to age on the lees in the bottle for between 24 and 36 months. Following aging the Champagnes are riddled to get rid of the yeasts from the second fermentation and 8 g/l dosage is added. The bottles rest a few more months before being labelled.

This family have been cultivating the vineyards of Aube since the 50s. In 1989 Laurent Breton, youngest among his brothers, together with his wife Karine Breton decided launch their own winemaking activity in the Côte des Bars area near the village of Colombé-la-Fosse. In 2005, eager to develop their own Champagne, they decided to launch “Champagne Germar Breton”, produced and elaborated by Laurent Breton himself. The domaine is named after their daughters, Gersande and Marcelline Breton.
Their Champagnes are produced from a blend of Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay. The 7.5ha of vineyards lie overs 4 villages of Côte des Bars where the soil is particularly generous and the sunshine is ideal for viticulture. The wines all go through malo prior to bottling so the style is fairly easy-drinking with 8g/l dosage.
This is a young estate with a bright future ahead of them!