Bertrand-Delespierre Champagne 1er Cru Extra Brut Enfant De La Montagne 750mL

Husband and wife Didier Bertrand and Chantal Delespierre are grower-producers farming nearly 10 hectares in Montagne de Reims; the entirety of their vineyards are Premier Cru, mostly in Chamery, with a few parcels in the villages of Villedommange, Ecueil, and Montbré planted to Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay with an average age of 25 years, though some parcels have vines in excess of 50 years. They plant as high up on the hills as ripening will allow. 

This "Child of the Mountain” is a blend of 40% chardonnay, 35% pinot noir, and 25% meunier from several estate crus. Generally there is a base vintage of at least 60%; in this case it's 2018, the rest is reserve wines. In the winery, grapes are delicately pressed in small lots using a traditional wooden basket press. Malolactic conversion is used sparingly in order to preserve freshness and aromatics; barrel aging is sometimes used for added complexity. This is a crowd-pleaser with rich ripe fruit up front, followed by citrus, with slight toast and baking spices on the long finish. Dosage is 3g/L, and it was disgorged in March 2023.

While not certified organic (as far as we can tell) here is Bertrand’s note on their practices: All of our vines are grassed and we practice tillage on our entire vineyard. Our interventions are reasoned, each of them is necessary. We also implement measures to preserve biodiversity: we do not use any herbicides or insecticides and are developing the planting of hedges around our plots.