Aurélien Gerbais: A master of Pinot Blanc in the Aube

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Aurélien Gerbais, of Pierre Gerbais, is the fourth member of his family to produce champagne in Celles-sur-Ource, a small village in Aube. Here Aurélien and a team of six are cultivating 18 hectares of vines with around 4 hectares being Pinot Blanc. The estate is certified with “Ampelos”, a kind of controlled lutte raisonnée where the growers have a limited number of options each year in case of emergency.

Fighting For Pinot Blanc

At a viewpoint above one of his vineyards Aurélien Gerbais points out the other villages and the main geographical features of the Barséquanais. “Celles-sur-Ource is the meeting point of the valleys which gives humidity” says Aurélien. Celles-sur-Ource Is not only the meeting point of the valleys but also their rivers of Seine and the l’Ource which flows past the area on each side.

The area is particularly prone to spring frost hence, the high percentage of Pinot Blanc planted. A grape that for a long time was disfavored by the CIVC: “We cheated on paper - that’s why we have Pinot Blanc’’ says Aurélien, after outlining a short history of the south’s fight for being a part of champagne. The center of power is in the north where most vineyards and the big houses are. They created the rules from their perspective, omitting Pinot Blanc but the CIVC did not inspect the vineyards and that was the loophole for the Gerbais family among others. Pinot blanc was planted out of necessity in a village where the crop only ripened in 1 out of 10 vintage just a few generations ago.

Seeking Acidity

In these extreme conditions Aurélien’s grandfather rather daringly not only planted the north facing part of Cellessur-Ource, but he also planted it with Chardonnay! In

Aurélien’s lifetime these vineyards have gone from inferior to superior. Where before the south-facing plots were ideal for consistently ripening fruit, they now risk producing overripe fruit in warmer vintages.

“We look for acidity, not ripeness. We have that [ripeness]!” he states before elaborating on the subject: “In the north the chalk gives acidity, here we have to work for it.” Aurélien prefers to let the malolactic conversion happen in the wines because “the acidity is best found in the vineyard.” He works with rootstocks and selection massale to delay the maturation. This is both to avoid spring frost but also to slow down the ripening. Selecting late ripening material for replanting seems only natural for a climate conscious producer.

The vines are pruned using the guyot-poussard system to maintain his vines as long as possible. It is a choice based on the understanding that old vines have deeper roots, which gives access to a more stable water supply, helping to retain acidity in the grapes. The pruning system is related to the philosophy of Marco Simonit; trying to prune with the sap flow in mind and create as few harmful cuts as possible. The impact of the unavoidable pruning wounds is minimized by this approach, extending the lives of the vines.

Matching Soils

Aurélien once again points out over the landscape, this time towards Chablis which is closer to Celles-sur-Ource than the Grand Crus of the north. The soil here is mainly Kimmeridgian clay with Portlandian clay in the highest part. “With soils similar to those in Chablis, why then Pinot Noir?” He asks rhetorically before answering his own question: “The big houses asked for Pinot Noir and that is what the growers in the Aube planted.”

But the Gerbais believe that brown soils should be matched by Pinot Noir while white soils should be matched with Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. With a fifty-fifty percentage in soil that very accurately describes their plantings: 50% Pinot Noir, 25% chardonnay and 25% Pinot Blanc. A system not far away from the northern champagne where a bit of clay in the top soil often will see plantings of Pinot Noir while chardonnay usually is planted in shallow to no topsoil - directly in the (white) chalk.

Respecting Traditions

Aurélien has inherited a style that avoids oxygen in the winemaking. Each parcel is fermented separately in stainless steel. The time sur lattes is relatively short with a maximum of three years with capsule before degorgement.

Aurélien has not changed this philosophy although he himself has undergone training in Burgundy where oxygen plays a larger role. An impressive integrety towards the tradition of his family.

The entry level of the range is a mix of grapes, soils and exposures that represents the holdings of the Gerbais’ and pure vintage, although not declared. The rest of the range is site specific and all created with a perpetual reserve as a base. For champagne, the perpetual reserve is used to retain freshness while adding the complexity of reserve wines. The wines are therefore top tier and non-vintage wines at the same time.

The range shows an extreme diversity of the sites which all are from the village of Cellessur-Ource. With a strict winemaking philosophy like the one practiced here the diversity is even more impressive.

The Gift Is Passed On

Pierre Gerbais received a wedding gift that started the domaine, and so did Aurélien and Audrey Gerbais for their wedding. “Les Ploies” is a small plot of 0,4 hectares planted in 1904 with Pinot Blanc. It is the exact same plot that four generations earlier initiated the domain that now forms the basis of Auréliens own project. From “Les Ploies” Aurélien creates a champagne true to himself and not the tradition of the family.

The aim is not to shield the wine from oxygen, on the contrary the wine is educated about oxygen. The wine ferments in barrel, see long aging sur lattes sealed by cork and is still not released to the market.

We tasted 2014, degorged à la volée from the cork and agraffe, left to rest for a half hour before being decanted for a short while. The wine is impressively open. The generous fruity welcome is overtaken by a vibrant acidity that turns into a long, stringent and dry finish. A fascinating wine that I think has a long life ahead of it.

Will Aurelien continue to uphold the traditional practices employed by his father, or will he eventually pull the house towards a more contemporary style, with greater influence from his personal winemaking philosophy? Certainly a domain to watch.