Champagne Brice Allouchery - Les Sablons 2020
Located in Écueil, Premier Cru of the Montagne de Reims, Brice Allouchery belongs to a generation of winemakers who prioritize the reading of the specific vineyard site and the personality of the wine over the pursuit of a standardized style. The estate notably works with old family parcels and conducts vinifications with a low-intervention approach, favoring indigenous fermentations and aging in wood. Les Sablons is a cuvée particularly revealing of this approach, as it combines grapes from Écueil and Sacy, two Premier Crus of the Montagne de Reims. Its identity is primarily due to its sandy and calcareous sandy soils, on subsoils attributed to the Upper Thanetian and Middle Lutetian. In these light soils, Pinot Noir can gain finesse and brightness without losing depth, while Chardonnay brings a fresher, lemony dimension to the whole. The result thus moves away from simply demonstrative champagne to favor a vinous, textured expression that clearly reflects the terroir.
The 2020 vintage is based on a blend of 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, both grape varieties being blended at the press. The grapes are harvested at maturity then gravity-transferred into oak barrels, before alcoholic fermentation is carried out with indigenous yeasts and malolactic fermentation in barrels. The wine remains on its total lees for eleven months, without filtration, then continues its evolution for about thirty-six months on lees after the tirage in July 2021. Disgorged in March 2025, it receives an extremely measured Extra Brut dosage of 1.3 g/l, which allows the matter and terroir to express themselves without sugary masking. Vinification in wood brings volume and a delicately toasted patina, while the long mousse development refines the texture and gradually blends the different elements of the wine. Produced in only 2,403 bottles, this parcel cuvée has a confidential dimension that enhances its appeal for the enthusiast seeking identity-driven grower champagnes.
The golden robe suggests a champagne more focused on substance than on mere liveliness, with a fine and regular effervescence. The nose mixes ripe yellow fruits, candied citrus, and nuances of roasted apple with notes of brioche, lightly toasted cream, and pastry, while a chalky sensation keeps the whole in a precise register. On the palate, Pinot Noir provides a broad and vinous base, but Chardonnay lifts the framework with a lemony touch that extends the finish. The texture, supple and enveloping, maintains sufficient tension thanks to the low dosage and the freshness of the vintage. The finish stretches on notes of ripe fruits, toasted bread, and citrus, with a saline persistence that calls more for the table than for the aperitif alone. To be served around 9 to 10 °C in a sufficiently wide wine glass, it will accompany roasted poultry, butter-roasted turbot, seared scallops, or lightly creamy seafood dishes with accuracy. Its vinous profile and depth also allow it to stand up to more elaborate cuisine, notably Bresse poultry with morels or delicately roasted veal sweetbreads.
Grape varieties: 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay