Represented by Aurélien Gerbais

Attending:
New York City
Chicago

Champagne Pierre Gerbais is a family-run grower-producer based in Celles-sur-Ource, in the Aube department of the Côte des Bar — Champagne's southernmost and, geologically, most Burgundian subregion. The family's roots in the village trace back to Pierre Gerbais's uncle, Ulysse, who first planted vines there after returning from World War II, with Pierre himself later formally establishing the house after learning from his uncle and father, André. The domaine is now led by the fourth generation of the family, Aurélien Gerbais, who studied winemaking in Beaune and counts Burgundian winemaker Olivier Lamy as a major influence.

The estate farms around 18 hectares, an unusually diverse holding for Champagne: roughly 10 hectares of Pinot Noir, 4 of Chardonnay, and 4 of Pinot Blanc — the latter a genuine rarity in the region. The vineyards sit at the confluence of four valleys carved by the Seine, Arce, Laigne, and Ource rivers, on Kimmeridgian marl and limestone soils that echo the terroir of Chablis and Sancerre more than the chalk of northern Champagne.

Farming has been organic for decades. The shift away from chemical viticulture began in the early 1990s after Aurélien's grandmother nearly died from an illness linked to pesticide and fungicide exposure; the estate converted to organic management and received certification in 1996. That certification, known as Ampelos, permits one chemical treatment per year in an emergency to save a crop, though the Gerbais family has never had to use it.

In the cellar, the house favors low-intervention winemaking. Wines are vinified and aged in wood before their secondary fermentation in bottle, with minimal sulfur added only at bottling, resulting in Champagnes described as structured, serious, occasionally austere, but intense and gourmand.