Autréau
Champillon • France
Image: October Ends via Wikipedia, published under the licence Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (size and cropping adjusted)Autréau
7 Rue René Baudet
51160 Champillon
France
Phone: +33 326594600
Internet: www.champagneautreau.com
Champillon is one of the Champagne region's most historic wine-growing villages. Perched high above the Marne Valley, between Épernay, Hautvillers and Aÿ, the village offers sweeping views across the vineyards of the Montagne de Reims.
The history of the Autréau family can be traced back to 1670. Today's Autréau Champagne house is closely linked to this village and its winemaking tradition. Over the generations, the Autréau family was not exclusively involved in viticulture. The family history also includes artists whose works are now on display in venues such as the Louvre and Versailles. Over time, viticulture became increasingly important. Like many winegrowing families in Champagne, the family initially sold their grapes to large champagne houses.
In the early 1950s, Gérard Autréau began vinifying the grapes from his own vineyards himself and producing Champagne under his own name. His son, Éric Autréau, further developed the estate before Laurent Autréau took over the reins as the next generation. Today, several generations of the family work together in the business.
The estate cultivates around 33.5 hectares of vineyards in various communes across the Champagne region. These include the Premier Cru communes of Champillon, Dizy and Hautvillers, as well as Grand Cru sites in Aÿ and Chouilly. Further vineyards are located in Verneuil. The estate cultivates the three classic Champagne grape varieties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The range includes classic Premier Cru cuvées as well as Blanc de Blancs, rosé and vintage champagnes, and cuvées from Grand Cru sites.
The estate operates in accordance with the guidelines for sustainable viticulture in Champagne and is a member of the MAGISTER network, which supports sustainable viticulture through the monitoring of weather conditions and vine health. Furthermore, the estate holds the highest level of the Haute Valeur Environnementale (HVE) environmental certification.
The Wines at a Glance
Blanc de Blancs brut
France
Champagne
Lot number NM 411-001 • 12 % vol alcohol
Symbols
| 🯅 | The rating of the wine is based on a single taster. The taster is named in the context of the rating. The tasting was either open or blind. In case of a blind tasting, it is explicitly labelled as such. |
| 🯅🯅 | The rating of the wine is based on two tasters. The tasters are named in the context of the rating. The tasting was carried out according to the four-eyes principle, in which both tasters agree on a joint rating. |
| 🯅🯅🯅 | The rating is based on a tasting by our jury and indicates the Mean value calculated by us from the individual ratings of the tasters. Our mean value is based on the median. |
| ⚖ | The wine was evaluated in a blind tasting. We have strict rules for blind tastings. The tasters do not receive any information that would allow them to identify the wines. The tasters are only given access to further information that goes beyond the subject matter if it is absolutely necessary for understanding the wines. |
| 🕓 | We only had limited time to taste the wine - typically during an open tasting event, such as a wine fair. It was therefore not possible to observe the development of the wine in the glass over a longer period of time. The informative value of our rating may therefore be limited under certain circumstances. |
| ⛬ | The wine was tasted as a barrel sample or before an official test number (Amtliche Prüfungsnummer or Staatliche Prüfnummer) was issued. We only accept samples of unfilled wines in exceptional cases, and then only if we can assume sufficient stability in the bottle for a period of at least three months. |
| ▲ | During our tasting, the wine showed conspicuous sensory characteristics. This does not necessarily have to be a wine fault. We categorise the quality and quantity of the abnormality and include it in the rating. Wine faults such as cork taint or an atypical ageing generally lead to a complete rejection. |
| Tastings that refer to the same bottle of a wine are visually summarised by a dotted line. |