While the Aube’s emergence has been very recent, the seeds for its flowering were planted in 1986, when the area’s spiritual father, Vouette & Sorbée’s Bertrand Gautherot, began tending his vines in the village of Buxières-sur-Arce. But it was not until 2001 that Gautherot actually bottled his first domaine Champagnes, capturing the attention of collectors and launching the Aube on its ascendence.

Throughout his long career, Gautherot has been, first and foremost, a grower. It says much about him that the first thing he shows visitors is his cows, which he jokingly refers to as “his marketing department.” He keeps them both to cultivate biodiversity and as part of his commitment to natural viticulture. Bertrand’s dedication to terroir isdeep; as he told Peter Liem, “the culture of the vine is my passion.” It led him to biodynamic certification for his domaine in 1998. That so many of today’s leading Aube growers tend their wines naturally is largely due to Gautherot’s example.

Yet, Bertrand ultimately sees these farming methods as a tool and not a religion: “You don’t drink a wine because it’s biodynamic, you drink it because it’s good.” And Gautherot’s are not merely good, but great—these are Champagnes of intense character, deep and complex, with unique aromas and flavours. Gautherot’s five-hectare estate is named after his two primary vineyards: Vouette on Kimmeridgian soil—the fossilized oyster-laden marl that it shares with Chablis—and Sorbée on Portlandian soil, also found in Chablis, further up the slope. These are augmented by Biaunes on Kimmeridgian marl in the neighboring village of Ville-sur-Arce. And dedicated grower that he is, he’s planted what he feels is best suited to each terroir:  Vouette and Sorbée are all Pinot Noir, while Biaunes has both Pinot and Chardonnay. This makes his wines true Champagnes de Terroir, with his Fidèle—named for the faithfulness with which it expresses its places of origin—pure Pinot Noir from Vouette and Biaunes, and Blanc d’Argile his all-Chardonnay cuvée from Biaunes. The Sorbée plot is the source for Gautherot’s rarest Champagne, Saignée de Sorbée, a pure, whole-cluster fermented Pinot Noir rosé of great depth, complexity and expression of terroir.

All three are minimally made. The grapes are traditionally coquard-pressed, and all movement of the wine is by gravity. Fermentation takes place in barrel with the indigenous yeasts, and there is no fining, filtering, cold stabilization or dosage, and very little sulfur. Before becoming Champagnes, they are fine wines. And their great originality has given them cult status among those who prize wines of singular personality.