Fascinating yesterday evening to meet Herve Augustin, President Directeur General of Champagne Ayala, at a private masterclass tasting of his champagnes.
Ayala is an old Champagne House (Maison de Champagne) founded in 1860 that for the last couple of decades had somewhat lost its way. Neighbouring Bollinger and Raoul Collet in the Grand Cru (pinot noir grape) village of Ay just outside Epernay, potential and history were aplenty; reputation and direction maybe needed to play catch-up.
All that changed in 2005 when Bollinger bought the business. Herve came across from Bollinger and brought vision and experience to Ayala. His brief from M Montgolfier (patron of Bollinger) was not to reproduce Bollinger next door, but rather to do something completely different. This he has done.
“Zero dosage” (no additional sugar) or “Nature” (natural) is the new hallmark of the house. In typical non-vintage Brut (dry) champagne, there is up to 15g of sugar per litre added as dosage (special mixture of sugar and reserve wine) to top up the bottle and tweak the style at the end of the production process - when the bottles have been brought up from their aging and second fermentation in the cellars and disgorged (had the seal and yeasty sediment removed). To go for zero dosage (ie. absolutely no sugar at all) is brave. Herve believes it brings his champagnes into focus as premium quality wines where the quality and origin of the grape becomes the over-riding and single most important factor in the taste; the significance of terroir featuring again!
I agree. Herve is a pioneer; he has zero dosage non-vintage, vintage and rose. His champagne are scrummy, elegant and very well made but they are quite distinct. More of a considered glass than a straightforward quaff. I believe these are champagnes for the real connoisseur.
The principal benefit to Bolllinger for buying Ayala, I suspect, is quality. Bollinger have a fabulous reputation with the best winegrowers in the region across all the Premier and Grand Cru villages. To save reneging on grape purchase contracts from these super vineyards, Bollinger can divert any surplus grapes across to Ayala so that Herve & Co have the very best ingredients to work with - hence the zero dosage policy.
Herve believes it will take a generation to revive the reputation of Ayala. In the meantime, his champagnes are effectively subsidised in price while the brand and style become established in the UK. If you can, buy some! My favourite was the Vintage 2000 (Perle d’Ayala) and it was really very good - with a cheeky 7.5g of sugar at dosage just to polish up the roundness.
We don’t sell Herve’s champagne (should we?) but I know a man who does if you are interested… Sorry for all the technical speak but I hope you can navigate through. Any questions, please ask!
Ayala produce only 700,000 bottles across all their cuvees in a typical year and purchase 95% of their grapes from winegrowers, with a dominance towards Premier and Grand Cru quality.
