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Pierre Gerbais, Champagne Extra Brut Grains de Celles (2018), NV

Name: Pierre Gerbais, Champagne Extra Brut Grains de Celles (2018), NV
Brand: Pierre Gerbais
SKU: NYC-1-Pas-`PA7295`-102623-3
Price: 65.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Sparkling Wine from Champagne, France

by Pierre Gerbais

$65.99

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Pierre Gerbais is a fourth-generation grower based in Celles-sur-Ource, in the Côte des Bar, Champagne’s southernmost region. Long under-the-radar, this area is now known for ripe, expressive Pinot Noir and forward-thinking producers like Gerbais who emphasize terroir and sustainability.

“Grains de Celles” is the domaine’s flagship cuvée, and this bottling is based on the 2018 vintage. It’s a blend of roughly 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, and 25% Pinot Blanc—the latter being a rarity in Champagne and a nod to Gerbais' old family plots. The wine is vinified in stainless steel, aged on the lees for around 3 years, and bottled with a low Extra Brut dosage (~3–4 g/L).

The result is a Champagne that’s bright and textured, with notes of baked apple, lemon peel, fresh bread, and white flowers, plus a gentle creaminess and mineral drive. It balances ripeness and energy with grace, and offers real grower character at a very approachable price.

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Whatever your school was like — football? yearbook editor? trigonometry? — it was no doubt quite different than wine school in Beaune, Burgundy. There, the likes of David Croix, Mathilde Grivot, Amélie Berthaut and Armand Heitz hung out drinking at Le Square and learning how to make wines. All of them are now on their way to becoming Burgundy’s new crop of stars.

Not everyone in that crowd ended up in Burgundy. Sometimes we forget how close Beaune is to Champagne, especially the Aube. If you grow up in the Aube, you actually live closer to Beaune than to Reims and many Aubois go to Beaune for schooling.

So it was that Aurélien Gerbais ended up in Beaune, palling around with many of Burgundy's future stars. He even worked at one of Burgundy's well-established stars, Olivier Lamy of St. Aubin. After that amazing hands-on experience he eventually made his way back to Champagne to join another group of visionaries, Aube stars like Cedric Bouchard, Vouette & Sorbée and Ulysse Collin. Even so, to this day he says, “I consider myself more Burgundian than Champenois.” That’s the Aube for you.

Gerbais’ family domaine is in the village of Celles-sur-Ource. The soils are Kimmeridgian, though there's a sector where the limestone-clay mix is nearly identical to what you find in the Côte d’Or. His family has farmed organically since the 1990s, but when Aurélien took over (this is recently; he’s still in his 20s) he brought Lamy’s obsessive farming home with him, elevating the domaine's game even further.

Professional Reviews

Robert Parker

RP 89

"The NV Grains de Celles Extra Brut is 100% Côte de Bar and assembles all the 20 different parcels cultivated by the family, which adds up to 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Blanc. Based on 2012 (with less than 5% réserve wines) it was disgorged in December 2015 with three grams of dosage. The wine opens a bit reductive and displays a clear, intense fruit and brioche aromas. Full-bodied, creamy and round on the palate, but also pure and very elegant, this is a bone dry Champagne to be served with food. Good intensity and character in the finish."

Wine Enthusiast

WE 91

"Based in Celles-sur-Ource in the Seine Valley on the Côte des Bar, this producer's nonvintage wine is ripe despite its dry extra brut dosage. With the unusual proportion of 25% Pinot Blanc in the blend, it is smooth and soft, finishing with just the right tangy acidity and a steely texture."

Details

Grape Variety

Chardonnay , Pinot Blanc , Pinot Noir
Vintage

NV
Size

750ml
Farming Practice

Organic
Sweetness

Dry
Body

Light Bodied

Champagne

Champagne boasts some of the world’s greatest luxury brands with Krug, Cristal and, of course, Dom Perignon. But it’s also home to hundreds of small dynamic producers—farmers who grow their own grapes (often organically) and make (often with natural methods) tiny amounts of pure and absolutely delicious wine that reflect the individual personalities of their villages and terroirs. Toast with these wines, for sure. But also treat them like the great wines they are: taste, drink, explore!

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