Champagne from Ledru’s Successor, Filaine’s Protégé and Corbon’s Stellar Terroir in Avize

Lead image: Agnès Corbon in the vines

Guillaume Gallois and his two vintage Coquard presses

Hello Kimberly,

Every so often, a tasting leaves you deeply inspired. It reignites your passion for a specific region, sparks genuine curiosity, and makes you forget that this is actually work. I walked away from a tasting with Transatlantic Bubbles feeling exactly that way the other day. That I needed to drink more Champagne. Granted, if you know me, you know that's nearly impossible to do. I drink A LOT of Champagne.

It was a privilege to revisit the brilliant, full range of Agnès Corbon in Avize, and to find a new discovery: Champagne Gallois-Bouché, from the close friend and protégé of Fabrice Gass (Alexandre Filaine).

To top it off, alongside Gallois-Bouché and Corbon, we are excited to release our second drop of Champagne Vincent Bernard, the official successor carrying the torch for the legendary Marie-Noëlle Ledru.

Feel free to let us know if you'd like specific recommendations or more information on any of the wines. Please reply with desired quantities and where to send them, and we'll confirm asap. These are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis. shop@mwcwine.com

Happy Hunting!

GALLOIS-BOUCHÉ (Guillaume Gallois) – VERTUS

By day, Guillaume Gallois is one of the top oenologists at Bollinger and head of their barrel program, following in the exact footsteps of his mentor and friend, Fabrice Gass. But on his own time, he is quietly crafting something special from his family's 3.4-hectare domaine in Vertus, featuring top parcels right on the border of Le Mesnil. After shifting the estate to a full récoltant-manipulant, he started vinifying his own wines in 2013, initially just for friends, and only recently began to commercialize them.

His cellar is beautifully old-school and filled with antique tools much like Fabrice's, including two vintage Coquard presses from 1966 that he rebuilt himself. What really stands out to me is that Guillaume isn't afraid of dosage; he embraces it in a way that makes his wines feel beautifully complete, generous, and deeply flavorful.

Préface Brut NV (Vertus) — 12+ btls @ $69.99/btl
Base 2022 | 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir
This cuvée contains 50% reserve wines from a perpetual reserve solera Guillaume started in 2015. 70% of the vins clairs are fermented and raised in stainless steel tanks, with the balance in old barrels, and 70% of the blend went through malolactic fermentation for this bottling.

The aromatics are simply delightful, wafting from the glass with fresh apple, pear, toasted hazelnut, and dried flowers, all backed by a serious chalky energy. It drinks with incredible depth and texture, yet stays perfectly crisp, driven by an energetic finish. A lovely wine that drinks drier than its dosage suggests.

2017 La Main Sur le Coeur Extra Brut — 12+ btls @ $135/btl
80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir | Dosage: 1.5 g/L
Sourced from his two top parcels on the border of Mesnil in Vertus. One parcel is pure Chardonnay, and the other is mostly Chardonnay with a little Pinot Noir. The wine is 100% barrel-fermented and aged before bottling under cork for its secondary fermentation, which took about 7 years before disgorgement. Finished with a low dosage, this is a very dry Extra Brut style. The wine is wound up, chalky, dense, and tight. There is loads of textural grip here and incredible length. Notes of pear and crisp apple layered with brioche and toasted almond draw you back for more. This is a vibrant, nervous bottle of wine that will benefit from a few years of cellaring.

2021 Rouge Garage Coteaux Champenois — 3 btls @ $150/btl
100% Pinot Noir | 12% ABV
From thirty-year-old Pinot Noir vines in Vertus. In the 2021 vintage, Guillaume only produced a single cask of his still red wine, which he made with 100% whole clusters. The wine is given a five-day cold soak prior to fermentation and allowed five months of aging in five-year-old Burgundy barrels. Coming in at a weightless 12% alcohol, this 2021 is a thrilling expression of Coteaux Champenois. The nose is savory and inviting, packed with dark cherry, smoked meats, and a touch of cedar and baking spice with a tensile mineral verve. The palate is simultaneously textured and framed by silky tannins. The wine is highly drinkable and fantastic right now, but honestly, tucking this away in the cellar for a few years to let those tannins soften will be well worth the wait.

AGNÈS CORBON – AVIZE

For those unfamiliar with Agnès Corbon, she is the brilliant mind driving Champagne Corbon, a tiny, deeply under-the-radar, third-generation estate in Avize. Her father, Claude, first began bottling the family's wines in 1971, and when Agnès took the reins in 2006, she elevated their already meticulous work by eliminating pesticides and shifting to organic-minded farming. Producing only 10,000 to 15,000 bottles a year, almost exclusively focused on their prized Avize Chardonnay, Agnès honors her father's traditional methods of extended aging with zero fining or filtering, while thoughtfully experimenting to push quality even higher.

The result is a lineup of incredibly pure and focused Champagnes that are an absolute thrill, with an enticing price-to-quality ratio.

2015 Avize Grand Cru Chardonnay Brut — 12+ btls @ $90/btl
100% Chardonnay | Disgorged: August 2024 | Dosage: 5 g/L
Fermented in stainless steel vats and lined cement without malolactic conversion. The wine sees around 6 months of aging in stainless steel before spending 10 years in bottle on the lees. It leads with a generous, expressive nose of golden apple, Meyer lemon, and toasted brioche. On the palate, it's rich, textural, and mouth-filling, but stays beautifully lifted by Corbon's signature pure, driving chalky minerality. A perfectly balanced, opulent Champagne with a lively, energetic finish. I always feel like this is one of the best values to be found in vintage Grand Cru Champagne.

2008 Grand Millésime Avize Blanc de Blancs — 10 btls @ $180/btl
100% Chardonnay | Disgorged: May 2025
It jumps out of the glass with bright citrus, crisp orchard fruit, and white flowers, anchored by crushed chalk and a rich hit of pastry dough. It's weighty and concentrated on the palate, yet incredibly electric and laser-sharp. It has phenomenal texture and a vibrant, energetic finish that lasts forever. It's a true long-distance runner of a Champagne that is finally hitting its sweet spot, though it will easily age beautifully for another few decades.

Brut d'Autrefois — 10 btls @ $150/btl
Base 2016 | 90% Chardonnay, 10% Pinot Noir | Bottled in 2018 | Disgorged: May 2025
The Corbon Solera is truly something special. It comes from a single neutral oak vat that has been continuously running for over 35 years, with just 50% drained each year to produce the current release. It is beautifully complex and genuinely impressive. On the palate, the wine is loaded with notes of lemon extract, bruised apple, warm brioche, and toasted rye bread, all held together by a serious spine of structured acidity. The finish is incredibly long and chalk-driven. I'd happily pop this open today, but holding a few bottles back is going to deliver immense joy 5 to 10 years from now.

VINCENT BERNARD – AMBONNAY

Vincent is not an outsider; he is a ninth-generation vigneron with wine in his DNA. He represents a rare convergence of Champagne ideologies: the grandson of legendary grower André Beaufort, yet raised by two generations of vineyard managers for Moët & Chandon on his father's side. While he spent 19 years as President of the Hautvillers cooperative, his soul has always been that of a grower and winemaker. Since 2020, he has been working within Marie-Noëlle Ledru's cellar under her direct tutelage. Now, he is making a clean break to continue the legacy of a storied grower.

Vincent has quietly secured 0.5 hectares of Ledru's prime Grand Cru parcels in Ambonnay, including the famous Les Crayères and Les Aigremonts. This isn't just a transaction; it is a spiritual succession. Born of a close friendship between Vincent's mother and Marie-Noëlle, the handover was natural. The result is a style faithful to the Ledru legacy, yet pulsing with new energy. There is no oak here, only enamel and steel tanks, spontaneous fermentation, and no filtration. Given the vineyards' cult status and the tiny production, it is only a matter of time before the secret is out.

NV L'Assemblage — 18 btls @ $130/btl
48% 2020 Pinot Noir, 30% 2021 Pinot Noir, 16% 2020 Chardonnay | Disgorged: 2025 | Dosage: 4 g/L | Production: 5,000 bottles
A blend of all his plots. Aromas of red apple, lime, and warm pastry meet an earthy hint of cool cellar air. On the palate, it's incredibly refined and driven by crisp fruit and gentle bubbles. It finishes with a tight, chalky grip and a beautifully rustic, angular charm.

2020 Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru Ambonnay — 8 btls @ $175/btl
100% Pinot Noir | Disgorged: February 2025 | Dosage: 4 g/L | Production: 2,200 bottles
From former Ledru parcels: Les Aigremonts (planted 1992), Les Crayères (planted 1987), and La Jument (planted 1986). This is Ambonnay Pinot Noir in its most "naked" form: powerful and broad-shouldered, possessing a salty, crystalline tension that vibrates on the palate. It has that signature red-fruit power and chalky depth you expect from this village, but it is delivered with a piercing, electric freshness. It feels unforced and incredibly pure.