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DOMAINE BALLORIN
Producer
Pierre Gerbais
France
Celles sur Ource, Champagne
Celles sur Ource, Champagne
60000 bottles in the cellar
Specialities: Champagne
Domaine Pierre Gerbais is a beautiful establishment in the Aube, in southern Champagne. A family business named after its founder who bought the first vineyards after the Second World War.
Today, the estate has 18 hectares, 10 of which are planted with Pinot Noir, 4 with Chardonnay and even 4 hectares with Pinot Blanc, a real rarity. We are in Celles sur Ource, a commune located at the co-influence of 4 valleys carved by the Seine, Arce, Laigne and Ource rivers.
The abandonment of chemistry in agriculture took place in the early 1990s, when, due to an infection caused by contact with pesticides and fungicides, the grandmother of the current owner Aurélien nearly died. After these events, the domaine converted to organic vineyard management with certification arriving in 1996.
Soil and Burgundian style
The geology of these lands is very different from northern Champagne, yet it is very similar to the Burgundian terroir given the presence of Kimmeridgian soils characterised by limestone, clay and very old marine fossils. Soils arranged in a band that cuts the hillside vertically in a manner similar to the Cote D'Or.
But the link with neighbouring Burgundy is not only in the affinity of the soils but also in the winemaking style: "I feel more Burgundian than Champenois," are the words of Aurélien who, after his studies in Beaune, returned several times to the Cote D'or, where he learnt a new production model from his friends from his studies: Grivot, Lachaux, Gros. But it was from Olivier Lamy, whom he considers his true mentor, that he elaborated his definitive thinking on wine.
It is from this soil and this background that Aurélien Gerbais' Champagnes are born, wines with structure, vinified and matured in wood before refermentation in the bottle, with very little sulphur added only at bottling, wines that are solid, serious and sometimes austere, but equally intense and gourmand.
