Pauline Collin Bereche Vieilles Vignes Ludes Premier Cru, Champagne, France 2019

Pauline Collin-Bérêche is a rising grower-producer in Champagne, based in Ludes (Montagne de Reims), who works alongside the famed Collin-Bérêche family while carving out her own, highly personal style. Farming is organic with biodynamic influence, focused on old vines in Premier Cru and Grand Cru sites, and cellar work is deliberately minimalist—native fermentations, low sulfur, long lees aging, and very low dosage. Her Champagnes are prized for their tension and precision, marrying chalky minerality with fine, persistent mousse and subtle savory complexity, making them some of the most sought-after bottles from the new generation of Champagne vignerons.

Vieilles Vignes Ludes Premier Cru, Champagne, France 2019 is a precise, terroir-driven grower Champagne from old vines in the Premier Cru village of Ludes. Blending predominantly Pinot Noir with Chardonnay and a touch of Petit Meslier, it offers a taut, mineral profile marked by citrus zest, orchard fruit, subtle brioche, and a saline, chalk-driven finish. Vinified with minimal intervention and finished at very low dosage, the wine combines energy and depth with fine mousse and quiet complexity, reflecting both the warmth of the 2019 vintage and the clarity of Montagne de Reims soils.

"The 2019 Extra Brut Ludes Viellies Vignes from Pauline Collin Bérêche emerges from two hectares of vineyards in Ludes. The blend is 65% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 5% Petit Meslier, with the Pinot driving the wine's texture and overall presence. This really blossoms with time in the glass. Readers will find a Champagne built on textural resonance and vinous intensity. Aromatic high tones, from a very small touch of volatile acidity from vinification and aging in oak, and the Petit Meslier in the blend add an attractive upper register. The 2019 was finished with no dosage, although there is some residual sugar. This is a formidable debut. Disgorged: July 2024." Vinous 95