Louise Brison is a grower-producer in the Côte des Bar, the southern sub-zone of the Champagne appellation centred around the town of Bar-sur-Aube in the Aube department, some 120 kilometres south-east of Reims. This less-celebrated zone, whose producers work primarily with Pinot Noir on Kimmeridgian limestone and clay soils quite distinct from the chalk of the Montagne de Reims, has emerged over the past two decades as a source of some of Champagne’s most characterful and age-worthy wines. Louise Brison produces wines that reflect this southern identity: wines of greater weight and textural richness than those of the classic chalky zones, with a distinctive vinous depth and fruit generosity that speak to the warmer, clay-dominant terroir.

The 2009 Champagne vintage was one of the warmest on record, producing base wines of exceptional ripeness and generosity across the entire appellation. In the Côte des Bar, where the terroir already produces naturally richer and more Pinot-dominant styles, 2009 yielded wines of great concentration and character that have developed beautifully over the years since disgorgement. A 2009 Champagne from this zone, particularly in the magnum format that provides significantly slower ageing than the standard bottle, will be in the midst of a long and complex evolution that could extend well into the 2030s for the finest examples. The magnum is ideal for this wine: the 2009 vintage has the structure and richness to reward the additional patience that the larger format demands.

Côte des Bar producers have increasingly attracted the attention of informed collectors who seek alternatives to the dominant Montagne de Reims and Côte des Blancs styles. Louise Brison’s wines occupy a position within this context as honest, terroir-driven expressions of a southern Champagne identity that is genuinely distinct. A 2009 magnum from this estate is a wine of real curiosity and substance, offering collectors the kind of developed, complex Champagne experience that can only come from patient ageing in the cellar.

Deep gold with a complex, evolved nose of baked apple, dried apricot, toasted hazelnut, honey, brioche and the distinctive vinous depth of mature Aube Pinot Noir. Full-bodied on the palate with excellent texture, a creamy mousse and a long, warming, complex finish of great charm and persistence. Drinking at or near its peak now; best through 2030.