Lieu-dit Champagne from Celles-sur-Ource in the Côte des Bar, where Aurélien Gerbais brings a Burgundian eye to Kimmeridgian slopes.
Celles-sur-Ource lies in the Côte des Bar, in the Aube, where four valleys meet in the far south of Champagne. It sits closer to Chablis than to Reims, and its slopes share Chablis's Kimmeridgian marl and limestone, with Portlandian limestone capping the plateaus.
The domaine farms 18 ha, all in Celles-sur-Ource, worked mechanically without synthetic products. It has held Ampelos sustainable certification since 1996 and is certified HVE. Yields are kept low and each parcel is vinified separately, in tank.
The Gerbais family has worked these vineyards since the early 19th century. André and his brother Ulysse began making their own Champagne in the 1930s, and after the war André's son Pierre took over, gave the house his name and expanded it.
Pierre planted cooler north-facing slopes and kept Pinot Blanc, one of Champagne's forgotten varieties, building the region's largest holding at 4 ha. His son Pascal joined in the 1980s and secured Ampelos certification in 1996.
Pierre's grandson Aurélien studied in Beaune and trained with Olivier Lamy in Saint-Aubin. He returned in 2011 and began a perpetual reserve for each lieu-dit, so every parcel is aged apart and keeps its identity.