To establish the date of birth of the relationship between the Aubry family and champagne we must go back in time, since already in 1790 are traceable documents that speak of their wines. This family is now represented by the twins Philippe and Pierre Aubry who lead the Maison Aubry et Fils in Jouy-lès-Reims, a small village at the northern foot of the Montagne de Reims. Pierre is an enologist, graduated at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie in Montpellier, chatty and very curious, while Philippe is a shy and silent biologist; and it is precisely the mix of these two so different personalities that underlie the success of this winery.
It all began in the late ’80s, when the two brothers were working on the creation of a special cuvée to celebrate, in 1991, the 200 years of the maison. The intention was to revive the taste of the wines of the late XVIII century and, to realize it, was conducted a real archaeological study rediscovering of the vines that, in that period, were widespread in Champagne. Thus, in addition to the canonical Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc, were identified the Arbanne, the Petit Meslier, the Fromenteau and a Pinot Gris clone, the Enfumé (also called Vrai Blanc). So it was that between 1989 and 1990 the two brothers began to graft these forgotten vines, returning to harvest them for the first time in 1994 and creating, from the following year, a stock of vins de réserve with five vintages, progressively, available.
The wines that most of all witness to the success of this project are those that bear on the label the words “Campaniae Veteres Vitae” (= the old vines of Champagne) as in the case of this Brut Le Nombre d’Or that, like the golden section (the name means just this), represents the key to understand the work of the entire winery. It is a blend of Pinot Meunier (10%), Pinot Gris (10%), Pinot Blanc (10%), Pinot Noir (10%), Arbanne (20%), Petit Meslier (20%) and Chardonnay (20%) from Villedommange, Pargny-lès-Reims, Jouy-lès-Reims and Coulommes-la-Montagne villages. The grapes, after a rigorous selection in the vineyard and a soft pressing, ferment in steel, with the exception of Chardonnay (in wood), and also perform malolactic fermentation. After bottling with the crown cap, it takes more than four years of aging for the wine to be degorged, added with liqueur d’expédition (6 gr/lt) and placed on the market.
The 2014 vintage has a straw yellow color with an incessant but delicate perlage, and a range of scents that opens on notes of mango, nectarine, brioche and hawthorn, followed by lime peel, kumquat, gooseberry and saffron, with concluding echoes of damp white pebbles and burnt shell. The taste has a great immediacy fresh attack, with the delicate perlage to caress the palate, and a discreet sapidity; all while returns the fruit and spices that accompany the sip until a good length closing.
Rating: 92/100
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