De Sousa's Brut Tradition offers a seductive bouquet of citrus fruit, ripe pears and white flowers. It strikes an excellent balance between attractive fruit and refreshing minerality. This Champagne reveals its qualities immediately and delivers relaxed drinking pleasure without ever feeling superficial, shallow or one-dimensional. Unlike many standard cuvées from larger houses – which often display rather neutral aromas and an unbalanced tension between acidity and dosage – the Brut Tradition benefits from impeccable vineyard work and low yields: ripe fruit without excessive acidity that would need to be balanced by high dosage.
The Chardonnay component (50%) comes from renowned Grand Cru sites on the Côte des Blancs such as Avize, Le Mesnil, Oger, Cramant and Chouilly, with a small addition of Premier Cru. It brings acidity, freshness and the deep minerality of the white chalk soils, which the vines penetrate to depths of up to 30 metres. 40% of the cuvée consists of Pinot Noir from Essoyes, contributing body, richness and beautiful fruit. The 10% Pinot Meunier originates from Mardeuil on the left bank of the Marne and rounds out the blend without dominating.
De Sousa owns vineyards exclusively on gentle, ancient chalk soils. Over millions of years the limestone has weathered and become porous, allowing the vines to root effortlessly – it is not uncommon for 30-year-old vines to reach depths of 25 metres or more. This enables the roots to draw significant amounts of mineral salts into the grapes. The character of the base wines is shaped less by the grape variety than by the terroir, compared to heavier clay or marl soils. De Sousa places great emphasis on average vine age. Even in the Brut Tradition – which includes some of the estate’s younger vines – the average is 25–30 years. Thanks to biodynamic farming, yields remain low and quality high.
A glance at the Alfavin cellar
A glance at the Alfavin cellar
A glance at the Alfavin Cellar