Alfred Gratien – The Keeper of Champagne’s Craft Tradition at Alfavin

Champagne Alfred Gratien is a historic Champagne house, founded in 1864 by Alfred Gratien in Épernay. While Krug and Bollinger, as prominent representatives of traditional Champagne craftsmanship, have cautiously modernized their styles, Alfred Gratien remains the only house today that keeps the tradition fully alive. This is supported by the fact that the Chef de Cave comes from the Jaeger family in the fourth generation, allowing each new generation to learn the craft directly from their father. Alfred Gratien has positioned itself as a small-scale producer, limiting production to around 250,000 bottles per year. Even though the house purchases almost all of its grapes and cannot access the same grape quality as Krug, Alfred Gratien’s vintage Champagnes remain among the best in many years.

The Alfred Gratien Style

Gratien ferments its wines in used oak barrels, allowing the wines to receive a small amount of oxygen during aging. When discussing oxidative aging, it should not be misunderstood: almost all great wines are fermented and aged in oak. The influence of oxygen supports the development of aromas without causing the wines themselves to become truly oxidized. The flavors differ from those developed in reductive tank aging, which in Champagne often produces toasted notes. Aging in oak gives the fruit a subtle nutty complexity. By avoiding malolactic fermentation, the aromas remain more primary and the acidity stays fresher. The long yeast aging at Gratien then reintroduces reductive aromas. Mature vintages of Gratien bear some resemblance to older Krug vintages: alongside subtle fruit from ripe apple and lemon, notes of walnut, white nougat, caramel, and honey dominate. The palate is silky with gentle perlage and feels very fresh due to the lively acidity. In recent vintages, Gratien has also shown a slight shift toward slightly fruitier wines.

History

Alfred Gratien founded the house with a vision to create Champagne produced by hand with the utmost care. The Gratien family preserved the artisanal knowledge over generations until the house was acquired in 2000 by the German Henkell & Co. group, which has strictly maintained the traditional production methods. Production follows the principle of avoiding volume and delivering quality.

Vineyards and Sites

Alfred Gratien owns 1.56 hectares of vineyards, classified as Grand Cru and Premier Cru, located in the prime terroirs of the Côte des Blancs and Montagne de Reims. Grape supply is further supplemented through long-term contracts with around 60 loyal growers.

Cellar Techniques

Key points include:

• Strict use of the first pressing (“Première Cuvée”) for all wines.

• All base wines are aged in small 228-liter oak barrels, which remain in the cellar on average for 20 years and have held at least four different wines. This traditional use of oak barrels is unusual and imparts complexity, body, and subtle oak influence.

• No malolactic fermentation, to preserve the freshness and fruit character of the grapes and the liveliness of the Champagne.

• Vinification is strictly parcel-by-parcel to emphasize terroir character.

• Extended aging on lees (at least 36 months, often longer) to develop aromas and fine perlage.

Top Cuvées

Even the Brut Classique is a good example of classic Champagne craftsmanship.

The Prestige Cuvée Paradis, which is also available as NV, has rarely truly convinced us.

Our favorite is the Blanc de Blancs vintage Champagne from Grand Cru sites, which spends less time on the lees than the vintage Champagne from all three grape varieties, making it more fruit-forward.

The finest Champagne from the Gratien house is the Millésimé (vintage Champagne) made from Chardonnay, Meunier, and Pinot Noir. Here, the very long lees aging and traditional craftsmanship are expressed most clearly in an individual, unmistakable style.