NV Champagne Ayala Brut Nature

50 to 55 % Chardonnay 25 to 35 % Pinot Noir 15 to 25 % Meunier

Pale gold with a silver cast and a fine, persistent bead. The nose opens on lemon oil and grapefruit pith, green apple, and a chalky crushed-seashell salinity, with toasted almond and hazelnut sitting underneath from the lees aging.  This bottle is Ayala's founding thesis.

Edmond de Ayala released one of Champagne's first low-dosage cuvées back in 1865, and the Brut Nature is its direct modern descendant: zero sugar added at disgorgement, around four years on the lees to build the texture dosage would normally supply. Since Bollinger bought the house in 2005 it has rebuilt its identity around Chardonnay and low dosage, which is striking for a maison based in Aÿ, a grand cru far better known for Pinot Noir. With no sugar to round the edges, the fruit sourcing and the autolysis carry the whole wine, which is exactly the point of a Brut Nature.

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