We have the opportunity to taste a lot of grower Champagne and every so often a bottle will shock us.
That is exactly what happened recently when A. Bergère Terres Blanches Blanc de Blancs was poured.
 |
This is a grower that none of us had heard of and from one of Champagne's most obscure corners, an area called the Vallée du Petit Morin. It was an absolutely thrilling bottle. This is especially true when you consider the price, which is $55.95 on 3-packs.
The Terres Blanches is a Blanc de Blancs with an utterly unique personality. The wine has an expansive and just slightly wild intensity and a core of precise breeding. It's a very enjoyable and fascinating combination.
Vallée du Petit Morin is southwest of the Côte des Blancs. This is a place where vine-lined hillsides overlook lakes and marshes. The majority of growers sell their grapes instead of bottling their own wines. If you've heard of the region, it's likely due to the cult wines of Ulysse Collin.
The Bergère family has tended vines here since 1848 and the maison was founded in 1949. In 2014, Adrien Bergère returned to his family's maison after graduating from oenology school and began to focus on improving the quality of their wines even further by experimenting with different techniques to tease out all of the nuances of this terroir.
Terres Blanches comes from limestone soils. Often, you can detect an elegant thread of coiled minerality in wines from these soils. You definitely get this from Bergère's wine. This is a deeply textural expression of Chardonnay that has a finessed spine of sleek minerality.
It's exciting to stumble upon wines like A. Bergère's Terres Blanches. The value and interest that it offers is something that you rarely find. We created specially priced 3-packs to encourage you to pick up a few bottles. It's a go-to bottle and it's always a good idea to have something like this around.
To order, email offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special 3-pack pricing for a limited time. Use Code: Bergere-NV