Who makes it
Champagne Gautherot was established May 17, 1978. Champagne Gautherot is a grower producer with a portfolio of Brut Nature Zéro, Grande Réserve, Exception, Notes Blanches, Millésime, Carte d'Or and Rosé. The house works from family vineyard plots, with the bottles separated by grape composition, reserve wine, dosage and vintage.
André Gautherot created Grande Réserve, and three generations have refined the cuvée. The wine remains a named house bottle alongside Brut Nature, Extra Brut, vintage, Rosé and Blanc de Blancs wines. Its history sits in a cuvée that has passed through three generations of Gautherot winemaking.
Where it grows
Celles-sur-Ource lies in the Côte des Bars, in southern Champagne. Grande Réserve carries red fruit described as typical of the Côte des Bars, alongside citrus and orange tones. Chardonnay brings a fresh note beside the Pinot fruit in the same cuvée.
Kimmeridgian clay limestone soils underlie the vineyard. The ground formed from marine sediments 145 million years ago. Clay can hold moisture, while limestone can improve drainage and support freshness during the growing season. These materials give the vines a soil that balances water retention with drainage.
How it is made
The cellar
Grande Réserve contains 10% old wines from a perpetual Solera and receives partial oak ageing. A Solera keeps reserve wine in circulation by blending older material into newer lots, while oak ageing adds oxygen and can bring toasted notes.
Brut Nature Zéro ages between 30 and 40 months. Lees ageing in sparkling wine can soften the mousse and add savoury depth, while the long cellar period gives the bubbles time to integrate.
What they make
The portfolio moves from the dry Brut Nature cuvée to Grande Réserve, the reserve wine, and then to Exception and Notes Blanches, both Extra Brut bottlings. Notes Blanches occupies the Blanc de Blancs and vintage part of the range. Millésime, Carte d'Or and Rosé complete the cuvée list.
Brut Nature Zéro has a fresh, expressive nose of quince, raspberry and cherry. Grande Réserve shows a pale gold robe with warm luminous reflections and a creamy mousse of fine, delicate bubbles. Its nose brings jasmine, hawthorn, red fruit, citrus and orange. On the palate, vineyard peach, quetsche plum, sweet spice, toasted and smoky notes meet Pinot fruit and Chardonnay freshness.