2010 Le Cran

This is a fabulous set of Champagnes from brothers Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche. All of the wines are now aged on the cork, with the exception of the NV Brut Reserve in bottle (the magnums are aged on the cork). Readers can look forward to a group of new estate Champagnes in the coming years. The first of these, 100% Pinot Noir from Mailly (reviewed here) is set to be released in 2019. It will be followed by Champagnes from Ambonnay, Aÿ and Cramant. In addition to these wines, I also tasted three wines from the Bérêche brothers’ négociant operation – the 2013 Côte (Avize), 2002 Montagne (Mailly) and 1999 (Montagne) Rilly-la-Montagne. I did not find any of the three interesting enough to formally review. Certainly, next to the estate wines, the difference of quality is best described as a chasm. I would not be surprised to see this range de-emphasized as more estate vineyards come on line.