Within the cold, west-facing, Kimmeridgian limestone-rich lieu-dit of Biaunes, there is a small plot of Chardonnay that Gautherot planted wild—that is, without preparing the soils and among native vegetation (a totally crazy idea). The Côte des Bar is overwhelmingly planted to Pinot Noir, but in 2000, Gautherot chose Chardonnay. He used mass-selection cuttings from Anselme Selosse’s vines (in Avize) and Vincent Dauvissat’s Valmur Grand Cru vineyard. This plot has become the base of what Antonio Galloni calls “one of the most beautiful and distinctive wines in Champagne”. As of 2020, the cuvée also includes fruit from the Fonnet vineyard as well as Vouette itself, which was previously planted to Pinot Noir before replanting to Chardonnay several years ago.

Indigenous yeasts ferment the wine in used 500- and 600-litre barrels, with a small portion fermented and raised in Georgian amphora (see Textures). As with Fidèle, this wine spends roughly 15 to 18 months in bottle on lees before being disgorged by hand with zero dosage. For the record, the Biaunes vines yield only 15 to 20 hl/ha each year, which is key to the depth and mineral intensity on offer. Were it not for bubbles, you could be drinking a great Grand Cru Chablis.

Within the cold, west-facing, Kimmeridgian limestone-rich lieu-dit of Biaunes, there is a small plot of Chardonnay that Gautherot planted wild—that is, without preparing the soils and among native vegetation (a totally crazy idea). The Côte des Bar is overwhelmingly planted to Pinot Noir, but in 2000, Gautherot chose Chardonnay. He used mass-selection cuttings from Anselme Selosse’s vines (in Avize) and Vincent Dauvissat’s Valmur Grand Cru vineyard. This plot has become the base of what Antonio Galloni calls “one of the most beautiful and distinctive wines in Champagne”. As of 2020, the cuvée also includes fruit from the Fonnet vineyard as well as Vouette itself, which was previously planted to Pinot Noir before replanting to Chardonnay several years ago.

Indigenous yeasts ferment the wine in used 500- and 600-litre barrels, with a small portion fermented and raised in Georgian amphora (see Textures). As with Fidèle, this wine spends roughly 15 to 18 months in bottle on lees before being disgorged by hand with zero dosage. For the record, the Biaunes vines yield only 15 to 20 hl/ha each year, which is key to the depth and mineral intensity on offer. Were it not for bubbles, you could be drinking a great Grand Cru Chablis.

Fidèle is 100% Pinot Noir grown on Kimmeridgian limestone soils. This includes roughly 5% reserve wine from a perpetual blend started in 2001 and stored in two large old foudres. The Fonnet vineyard, located in a small, enclosed valley, forms the heart of this cuvée. Sorbée provides much of the balance, topped off by Châtel—a rocky, limestone-rich vineyard with 20+-year-old Pinot Noir vines. Overall, the vines for this wine average 30 years of age. After pressing in a traditional vertical Coquard press, Fidèle is vinified without added yeast or chaptalisation in used Burgundy barrels for 10 months (these came from Domaine Arnaud Ente in Meursault). The wine then spends 15 to 20 months on lees in bottle after secondary fermentation and is disgorged with zero dosage. Gautherot describes this as “a dangerous wine”—the bottle disappears so quickly—and this description could not be more apt. Lovers of Vouette et Sorbée should get excited! 

Textures is a rare, 100% Pinot Blanc Champagne crafted from vines planted between 1995 and 2000 in the Fonnet vineyard. Gautherot describes it as his “easiest” wine, meaning the most approachable when young. There is fleshier texture (hence the name), more fruit and an easier-going persona than in his Blanc d’Argile. There is also plenty of intensity, complexity and fabulous poise.

The grapes fermented and were raised in large, buried Georgian amphora and used oak barrels, as well as a couple of Italian dolia (round-bodied earthenware pots) for roughly nine months before blending. The bulbous amphora, crafted by the last Georgian family specialising in this shape, affords Gautherot the kind of lees contact and minimal oxidation he looks for. A portion of the fruit macerated and fermented on skins. After blending, the wine spent roughly 18 months on lees in bottle. Sadly, this cuvée is no longer produced as Bertrand's brother has taken back the vineyard that supplied the wine, so this will be one of the final releases (if not the last). Cherish it while you can!

Saignée de Sorbée is a thrilling, idiosyncratic, sappy, stemmy, peppery rosé that can be thought of as a delicious light red as much as a rosé Champagne. The Sorbée plot is a little plateau above the slope where Vouette sits and is almost pure Portlandian limestone—something very rare in Champagne. The site is almost flat, with a slight exposure towards the southwest. Gautherot harvests here in multiple passes, with only the smallest bunches and ripest fruit making it into his Saignée.

Sorbée is the vineyard that gives Bertrand the least amount of stress. The vines are between 32 and 50 years old and were planted with old mass-selection cuttings from Domaine Lafarge in Volnay. The soils have been cultivated since at least the 1860s, with no herbicides ever used. Gautherot feels that this made it easier to adapt this site to his biodynamic practices.

Uncrushed whole grapes macerate in an open-top wooden vat before pressing. Vinified entirely without sulphur, the wine ages for 10 months in 400-litre barrels before being disgorged without any dosage. It’s a vibrant, red-fruited, bunchy and light-bodied sparkling wine. It shows crushed wild strawberry, nettle and an earthy, complex lick that we assume comes from the no-sulphur aging. 

Extrait takes its name from the French for extract, which is precisely what this is—a barrel’s worth of wine extracted from a single vintage. In fact, this is a blend drawn from the domaine’s finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay barrels, the composition of which follows the percentage of each variety harvested that year. So, while it generally comes in at around 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, the final blend depends on the harvest. Furthermore, the plots that supply this cuvée are not set in stone; Gautherot simply selects his favourite parcels by taste, although the Chardonnay almost always comes from Biaunes and the Pinot Noir often comes from the Portlandian Sorbée vineyard. The wine spends eight to nine years on lees before being disgorged by hand. It is a super wine that, like all Vouette et Sorbée cuvées, really comes into its own at the table with food.

Another rarity, Sobre debuted in 2005 and is Bertrand’s experiment in making a pure, late-disgorged Chardonnay. Off the record, this wine is made with no liqueur de tirage addition, meaning the wine sees no yeast or sugar additions at all. It is also crafted without the use of sulphur. The methodology for the secondary fermentation remains a secret! What we can say is that in great years for this estate—of which 2014 was one—Gautherot pieces together a single barrel of his finest Chardonnay for extended lees aging. Following 100-plus months sur lattes, this was disgorged by hand in October 2023. Naturally, because of the alternative methodology and length of aging on lees, you can expect something far more complex, with lingering sherry-like tertiary flavours and incredible length. Fascinating and delicious!