Ambonnay

What it is

Ambonnay is one of Champagne’s seventeen Grand Cru villages, on the southeast flank of the Montagne de Reims. About 387 hectares of vineyard. Plantings: 81 percent Pinot Noir, 19 percent Chardonnay, almost no Meunier. One of the purest Pinot Noir villages on the Montagne, with Bouzy as a direct neighbour.

Soil and aspect

South and southeast-facing slopes on chalky clay, with a thin layer of marl over the top. Strong sun exposure, more growing-degree days than northern neighbours Verzenay and Verzy. The result: riper Pinot Noir with more body, generosity and roundness.

The Grand Cru status is original: Ambonnay was one of the twelve villages the Échelle des Crus recognised at 100 percent in the 1950s, so it has not been a later promotion like Verzy or the southern Côte des Blancs villages received in 1985.

Producers

Ambonnay holds an exceptional concentration of top growers and major house holdings:

• Egly-Ouriet: 12 hectares spread across Ambonnay, Bouzy and Verzenay. Pioneers of low-intervention and low yields. One of the most respected Pinot Noir Champagnes in the world.
• Krug: owner of Clos d’Ambonnay, a walled vineyard of just 0.68 hectares (1.68 acres). First produced in 1995, first released in 2007. Production around 3,000 bottles per vintage. One of the most expensive Champagnes in the world (around 2,500 euros per bottle).
• Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Mumm, Roederer, Pol Roger: all hold Ambonnay parcels for their prestige cuvées
• André Beaufort: biodynamic grower
• R. Pouillon, Marie-Noëlle Ledru: other grower names

In the glass

Powerful, fruit-rich, structural. Ripe red fruit (cherry, raspberry), spice, toasted nut with age. Wide palate. Not the most mineral-tense Pinot Noir on the Montagne (that’s Verzenay) but the most royal. An Ambonnay Grand Cru from Egly-Ouriet drinks well for four decades.

Compared with neighbours

Bouzy (west) is similar in style and proportion. Verzenay (north) delivers vertical, sharper Pinot Noir. Ambonnay sits closer to Bouzy in character than to the northern slopes.