Ludes · Montagne de Reims · Champagne
Champagne Bérêche et Fils
Raphaël & Vincent Bérêche
Founded in 1847 in the premier cru village of Ludes, Bérêche et Fils is today one of the most compelling estates on the Montagne de Reims. Brothers Raphaël and Vincent — the fifth generation — have taken their father Jean-Pierre’s traditional méthode and sharpened it into some of the most sought-after bottles in Champagne.
Critics have not been shy: John Gilman calls the house “at the top of its game and producing some of the finest wines in all of Champagne.”
The Domaine
The brothers divide the work as nature intended — Vincent in the vines, Raphaël in the cellar — across roughly nine hectares planted in near-equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier. From the home village of Ludes, the holdings reach across the Vallée de la Marne at Le Port à Binson, Trépail in the east, and grand cru parcels added over the last decade in Mailly, Aÿ, Ambonnay and Cramant.
Terroir
Ludes sits on the chalky northern face of the Montagne de Reims. The estate’s old-vine Chardonnay lieux-dits — Les Beauxregards, planted in 1902, and Les Clos, a sélection massale from 1970 — are among the village’s treasures.
In the Vines
Chemical herbicides were abandoned in 2003 in favour of manual vineyard work; the family continues its progression toward biodynamic farming across all parcels.
In the Cellar
Each parcel is vinified and aged separately in barrel with ambient yeasts. Malolactic fermentation is avoided to preserve acidity, the finest cuvées age en tirage under cork rather than crown cap, disgorgement is by hand, and dosage is minimal. The perpetual reserve behind Reflet d’Antan has been maintained in 600-litre barrels since 1985.
In the Library
Three cuvées are currently offered in the Library, led by the house’s celebrated single-site and reserve bottlings.