90% Chardonnay, 10% Coteaux Champenois Pinot Noir
Villages: Fèrebrianges, Etoges, Congy
Soil: Clay, limestone

Investigating "place" is at the core of the ever-evolving grower Champagne discussion. As we know, place is everything when deciphering terroir. Hence it was was a rare opportunity to meet the young Adrien Bergère, whose family domaine has one foot in the under-announced territory of Fèrebrianges, with its diverse soils, just 15 minutes south of Épernay and one in the epicenter of Grand Cru terroir, with a core of enough quantity and variation in vines to showcase an entirely new message.

Adrien Bergère did not suddenly appear with vines and a cellar. He is the next generation to a family that built their sizable estate as farmers in the heart of the Vallée du Petit Morin (more on this locale later). At the full scale the family now works 45ha. It is here where Adrien calls home and admits having so much great terroir at his disposal, at such a young age is true gift. Barrels and foudre have outnumbered the steel tanks. A solera project has kicked off. And Adrien has a line of Parcellaire wines in the stacks, the first look into his personal findings from his terroir. It is quite the inheritance and a brilliant space, ripe for experimentation. We are excited to advance his cause within Grand Cru Selections.

The Bergère family has tended vines on the slopes of the Vallée du Petit Morin since 1848 and in 1949, Albert Bergère founded Maison Bergère in an effort to better promote the family’s terroir. In 1986, Albert’s son, André took over the estate and further expanded their vineyard holdings. His wife, Brigitte established their boutique on Avenue de Champagne in Épernay, which is now managed by their daughter, Annaëlle.

Adrien Bergère joined his parents and sister on the estate in 2014 as winemaker after obtaining his diploma in oenology. He arrived with the desire to further enhance his family’s terroirs and showcase the richness of the Vallée du Petit Morin. To achieve this, he immediately began to vinify all the parcels separately to better understand the diversity of his terroir and isolate the best parcels, which gave birth to the parcel-based range and the two Coteaux Champenois, in addition to the traditional range already established by his family. Between 2014-2018 has been the period for Adrien to experiment. He introduced barrels and foudres, which allowed him to experiment and analyze his wines on different vinifications, and adapt his work to best express his terroirs.

Adrien describes his approach from a simple point of view, that is - Champagne is wine first, and great wine can only come from observation in the vineyards. Once in the cellar, the elevage should accompany terroir, not override it.

Accordingly, vinification is unique to each parcelle, which is why Adrien has added tools to the cellar apt for analyzing the best vinification and elevage. There is a spread now of barrels, tanks and foudre. The duration of elevage is a constant study. The singular parcel wines are coming of age under natural cork as well. Overall, the processes in the cellar do not supersede the qualities of the grapes. The fruit is a guiding force in a realm of flexible and constant experimentation.

The entire estate is aspiring to a full organic conversion, with 6 hectares currently certified and another 2 in conversion. But Bergère will not include this on the label until the majority of their vines have been certified. With so many hectares under vine it’s a huge undertaking and one that they are moving towards slowly and deliberately, vowing to work in the best way possible.

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