Description
The wine
Primitif is the wine Alban Corbeaux makes to show what Verzy tastes like. Nothing added, nothing taken away.
The blend is 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay — all from Grand Cru Verzy — built around a 2022 base vintage (50%) completed by wines from the 2020 and 2021 harvests. Vinified without fining or filtration to preserve all the energy and purity of the fruit. Thirty percent fermented in old oak barrels for texture and depth, seventy percent in temperature-controlled stainless steel for freshness and precision. Indigenous yeasts throughout. Full malolactic fermentation. Minimum 24 months on lees before disgorgement. Zero dosage.
The chalk-rich limestone soils of Verzy give the wine its characteristic mineral tension — the kind of grip and energy that sets Montagne de Reims Pinot Noir apart from the richer, more opulent styles of the Vallée de la Marne. This is not a Champagne that announces itself. It builds, slowly, glass by glass.
Vineyard & vintage details
Producer: Champagne Pierre Deville
Cuvée: Primitif Extra Brut Grand Cru
Terroir: 100% Verzy Grand Cru
Grape: 80% Pinot Noir · 20% Chardonnay
Soil: Chalk-limestone
Farming: Organic · biodynamic practices
Base vintage: 2022 (50%) · with 2020 (25%) and 2021 (25%)
Vinification: 70% stainless steel · 30% old oak barrels · indigenous yeasts · full malolactic fermentation
Élevage: Minimum 24 months on lees
Fining / Filtration: Unfined · unfiltered
Dosage: 0g/L Extra Brut
Production: 3,600 bottles
Tasting notes
Fresh red fruits, ripe citrus, and a chalky mineral tension characteristic of Verzy. The Pinot Noir dominance gives the wine weight and vinosity — there’s real structure here, not the light effervescence of a simple aperitif style. The oak ageing adds texture and a subtle breadth without imposing any toasty or vanilla character. Long, dry finish with the mineral precision of the Grand Cru chalk beneath. Drink now through 2029.
Service: 10–12°C. Aperitif, cheese gougères, scallop tartare, poultry in cream sauce, aged Comté.
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.
