Description
The wine
Les Copins — the friends. Where the Copin cuvées isolate each variety in its own wine, Les Copins brings them together in equal measure. This is how Alban Corbeaux thinks about the relationship between Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the chalk slopes of Verzy — not as opposites to be blended and balanced, but as companions with complementary things to say.
The 2020 vintage draws from four named lieu-dits within Verzy Grand Cru, each with its own planting history:
La Queu des Loges — planted 1963
Les Chemins de Wez — planted 1984
Les Épinettes — planted 1970
Les Alouettes — planted 1976
The oldest vines are over 60 years old at harvest. All four plots farmed organically with biodynamic practices. The entire wine — both the Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay — fermented in old oak barrels with indigenous yeasts and full malolactic fermentation. No stainless steel. Extra brut dosage.
1,300 bottles made.
Vineyard & vintage details
Producer: Champagne Pierre Deville
Cuvée: Les Copins 50/50 Extra Brut
Terroir: 100% Verzy Grand Cru
Grape: 50% Pinot Noir · 50% Chardonnay
Vintage: 100% 2020
Lieu-dits: La Queu des Loges (1963) · Les Chemins de Wez (1984) · Les Épinettes (1970) · Les Alouettes (1976)
Soil: Chalk-limestone
Farming: Organic · biodynamic practices
Vinification: 100% old oak barrels · indigenous yeasts · full malolactic fermentation
Dosage: Extra Brut
Production: 1,300 bottles
Tasting notes
The 2020 vintage in Champagne was warm and generous — ripe fruit, natural weight, and good structure. In old oak with full malolactic fermentation, Les Copins has the texture and depth of a serious still wine alongside the precision of Grand Cru Verzy chalk. White peach, lemon curd, brioche from the barrel, and the characteristic mineral grip of the terroir on the finish. The equal split of the two varieties means neither dominates — the Pinot Noir gives weight and the Chardonnay gives length, and the chalk underneath keeps everything honest. Long, dry, precise. Drink now through 2030.
Service: 10–13°C. Grilled fish, roast chicken, aged Comté, white truffle dishes.
Alban Corbeaux is the fourth generation of the Corbeaux-Deville family farming in Verzy Grand Cru since 1963. Trained in Burgundy before returning to take over the domaine in 2017 — biodynamic farming, indigenous yeasts, zero or low dosage. Five hectares in one of the Montagne de Reims’ most distinctive Grand Cru villages.
