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Edmond de Ayala in 1855, son of a Colombian diplomat, settled in Mareuil in Champagne to learn how to make wine. He married a d'Albrecht in 1858, who brought Château d'Aÿ and his vineyard to the wedding, and together they founded Maison Ayala in 1860, with the brand registered with the Reims Commercial Court in 1875.
Edmond's brother, who had moved to London in the meantime and was a close friend of the Prince of Wales, asked his brother to develop a low-dose Champagne, and Ayala thus became the official supplier to the English crown. The image of Champagne Ayala is created and so is its success.
The vicissitudes of the phylloxera crisis in the 1885s, which almost wiped out the vineyard, the fire at the winery and Château in 1910, the 1914-1918 war, and the 1929 crisis weakened Ayala, which passed from hand to hand until 2005, when it was bought by Bollinger, whose winery is almost adjacent to each other and on the same street.
The 2018 vintage featured a rainy winter, a mild spring and a sunny dry summer, all of which heralded optimal conditions for an early, generous harvest with near-perfect sanitary conditions, particularly for the Chardonnays.
For the Cellar Master, a little something seemed to be missing and, for the first time, he decided to leave out of the cuvée's specifications only "Premier and Grand Cru" Chardonnays from Côte des blancs (Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger ...), integrating Chardonnay from "Premier Cru" Bisseuil and Cuis from Montagne de Reims, where we have less of this chalky austerity, which gives fatness and creaminess. The wines will remain 6 years aging on lees before disgorgement and a light dosage at 5g/L.
This Blanc de blancs is therefore an Extra brut endowed with beautiful aromatic complexity and creamy effervescence.
The color, brilliant, is a beautiful pale yellow with white gold highlights, and adorned with fine, dynamic bubbles.
The nose is subtle and engaging, with its delicate notes of white flowers and pear, intense jasmine and grapefruit, and greedy light honey and frangipane.
The palate is round and voluminous, in perfect continuity with the sensations of the nose. We find white flowers, citrus, blood orange and pastry notes. The finish is silky and airy, carried by beautiful bitters, saline and iodized... characteristic of great Chardonnays.
This Blanc de blancs A/18 from Maison Ayala is a great purity and freshness. It's a perfect match for scallop carpaccio with lemon caviar and basil, but will also light up your most refined aperitifs.
