About A. Bergère
Roll on a few years and a few global catastrophise, whilst having dinner one evening in early 2023 with the wonderful Virginie Taupenot from esteemed Burgundy estate Domaine Taupenot-Merme, she causally asked if we were on the look out for any new growers to join the fold, as a close friend of hers from Champagne was currently making waves back in France and on the look out for a new partner to perhaps bring some wines down under (nothing like keeping it in the family eh….). An air freighted set of samples to Aus, a zoom tasting, and a flight to France later, we found ourselves catching up with Adrien and his trusty sidekick Maxime Pierlot (a long-term friend, Champagne native & export manager) in the sleepy village of Fèrebrianges in the Valle du Petit Morin in order to try to get to know the wines more.
The family make wine from some 45 Ha of estate owned vines, with 35 Ha in and around the villages of Fèrebrianges, Etoges and Congy in the Valle du Petit Morin southwest of Épernay. Not the most famous of areas in the region, it is the vineyards that do the talking here. Adrien also owns 5 Ha in the more famous Côtes des Blancs and a further 5 Ha in the Côtes de Sezanne to the south. Chardonnay makes up 70% of planting with 20% of Pinot Noir and 10% of Pinot Meunier in the mixer. The history of the estate follows that of many of the new wave of growers making waves in the region, with the family originally becoming growers in Fèrebrianges in 1848. After the end of the war, Albert Bergere founded the A.Bergere estate with the aim of promoting the local terroir. The following generations continued to add precious sites to the estate over the years before Adrien came to the fore in 2014 when his father was given the opportunity to add 14 Ha of vines to his holdings when his brother was looking to sell his vines. In coming back to the estate & with more vines under his watchful eye Adrien has been able to take things to a new level.
About Adrien Bergere
It's hard to believe this superstar is only 32 years old! Adrien looks to produce wines rippling with energy and tension that express the place in which they are grown. A high proportion of the wines are fermented in barrel and/or foudre and spend an extended time in cask (approximately 10 months) prior to going to bottle for the second fermentation and ageing on lees. Lees ageing is relatively short for some wines but thanks to the time in cask the wines already carry ample complexity and Adrien prefers to release the wines when they are tensile, fresh and moreish and always finishes his wines with minimal or zero dosage. These terroir driven elixirs are only going to get better as Adrien and the team continue to understand their terroir more and more as the years go on and Adrien is no doubt one of the brightest rising stars in the region and we are delighted to welcome the Champagne A.Bergere team to the CellarHand family.
Current Range
2013 A. Bergère ‘Millesime’
A. Bergère
2017 A. Bergère ‘Les Peignottes’
A. Bergère
2018 A.Bergère ‘Les Clos’
A. Bergère
2017 A.Bergère ‘Les Vignes De Nuit’
A. Bergère
NV A. Bergère ‘Rosé’
A. Bergère
NV A. Bergère ‘Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs’
A. Bergère
NV A. Bergère ‘Terre Blaches Blanc de Blancs’ Brut Nature
A. Bergère
NV A. Bergère ‘Origine’
A. Bergère
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