Alfred Gratein

Alfred Gratien is a small house, producing 300,000 bottles annually, with a long history of making wines of complexity. its champagnes are made in a rigorously classical way, with the first fermentation and at least six months of aging taking place exclusively in 1000 small 228 litre neutral barriques, of 12 years’ average age, previously used three times in Chablis. Reserve wines are store in large oak barrels. Malolactic fermentation is systematically avoided, to ensure that the champagne retains its original character, maintaining freshness as it ages and preserving the aroma of the grapes and the land from which they came. TYSON STELZER