Champagne AYALA is Making Chardonnay Cool Again

This first edition of A/18 is a vintage dated release from 2018—featuring 6 complementary Grand and Premier Crus—selected from the 22 total unique Crus that Champagne AYALA harvested in 2018. This specific selection created a stunning 100% Chardonnay blend that captures the purity of chalk from both the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims. Each sip pays tribute to nature and reflecting a pure sense of fruit. Each subsequent release will not necessarily be a vintage Champagne, but rather a balanced blend that captures the absolute best expression of Chardonnay. This allows Cellar Master Julian Gout to pull from select reserve wines in order to create a broad palette of aromas and nuances to play with. This new collection of AYALA Blanc de Blancs has been a focused project since he joined the Maison in 2018, following the installation of a new state-of-the-art winery.

This bright wine reveals elegant aromas of pear, grapefruit and jasmine, and is forthright and open with notes of blood orange pastry, making this a beautiful pairing wine. Whether presented as a pre-meal aperitif or paired with scallop carpaccio or oysters, this elegant wine is best paired with simple, quality ingredients that can echo the purity of the wine. 

“Champagne AYALA has been making a Blanc de Blancs, 100% Chardonnay since 1990 which places us in a very knowledgeable place when speaking about Chardonnay and Terroirs. What makes us so unique is the expertise we have developed about the diversity of Chardonnay crus in the region. With the newly released AYALA Le Blanc de Blancs, we aim at unveiling a new interpretation of this cuvée through the eye of each harvest. Here introducing the first edition A/18, coming out from the 2018 harvest with only Grands Crus and Premiers Crus from both the Côte des Blancs and the Montagne de Reims in the blend.

When I joined the House in 2018, I was lucky enough to use our latest winery of more than 120 vats, which gave me the flexibility to isolate each cru, each year, each grape variety in different vat and thus, ensuring our micro-vinification approach. This is very important when going through the base wines, as I am looking for the pure expression of the Terroirs they come from. Out of the 22 crus of Chardonnay we have isolated in 2018, 6 were chosen for the blend of AYALA Le Blanc de Blancs A/18.

As purity is key for our House’s style, we only vinify in stainless still vats and the dosage at 5g, makes it an extra-brut. Time is another key element, as it lies minimum 5y in our cellars. This enable to reach the elegance and balance I want.” -Julian Gout, Chief Winemaker of Champagne AYALA

Visit champagne-ayala.fr to learn more.