A generous, expressive Champagne that feels made for the table

A. Bartel Brut NV is a beautifully approachable Champagne from the Côte des Bar, the southernmost part of the Champagne region.

Predominantly made from Pinot Noir, it has more fruit, body and generosity than very lean Champagne styles, while retaining the freshness and fine bubbles that make Champagne so inviting.

The nose opens with white flowers, green apple, citrus and yellow peach. The palate is fresh and rounded, with a soft, creamy mousse and a long finish that brings together ripe fruit, toast and gentle brioche.

It is polished enough for a celebration but relaxed enough to open simply because dinner is ready.

What does NV mean?

NV means “Non-Vintage.”

Rather than coming entirely from a single harvest, non-vintage Champagne is blended from wines produced in more than one year.

Each growing season in Champagne is different. One year may produce wines with greater ripeness and fruit, while another may bring higher acidity, freshness or structure.

By combining several harvests, the winemaking team can create a consistent house style and achieve a more complete balance than one vintage might provide on its own.

For A. Bartel Brut, the blend is based predominantly on Pinot Noir from several harvests, bringing together youthful fruit and the additional complexity of reserve wines.

What is the Côte des Bar?

The Côte des Bar is the southernmost vineyard area of Champagne, located in the Aube department.

It lies closer to Chablis than to the famous northern Champagne towns of Reims and Épernay, giving the region its own distinctive landscape and personality.

The soils contain Kimmeridgian limestone mixed with a higher proportion of clay. Similar geology can also be found in Chablis.

The limestone helps bring freshness and mineral definition, while the clay supports fuller fruit, greater texture and a rounder mouthfeel.

Pinot Noir is particularly well suited to these conditions. It ripens successfully in the Côte des Bar and produces Champagnes with generous orchard fruit, structure and savoury depth.

If you enjoy Champagne with a little more body and fruit rather than an extremely lean or austere style, the Côte des Bar is an excellent place to explore.

Discover Pinot Noir Champagne

Pinot Noir is a dark skinned grape, but it can be used to make white Champagne.

The grapes are pressed gently after harvest, limiting contact between the clear juice and the coloured skins. This allows the winemaker to capture Pinot Noir’s fruit, weight and structure without producing a red wine.

In Champagne, Pinot Noir can contribute aromas of apple, peach, red fruit and citrus, along with a broader texture and greater depth through the palate.

It gives A. Bartel Brut its generous personality, balancing fresh acidity and fine bubbles with enough structure to accompany food.

The vineyard

The fruit comes from vineyards around Ville-sur-Arce in the Côte des Bar.

The area’s clay limestone soils provide a particularly good environment for Pinot Noir. The limestone supports freshness, while the additional clay helps create broader, more fruit driven wines than many vineyards farther north.

The grapes are harvested by hand, as required throughout Champagne, allowing whole, healthy bunches to reach the winery without being damaged by mechanical harvesting.

Careful handling is especially important for dark-skinned Pinot Noir because broken berries can release colour and harsh phenolics before pressing.

The A. Bartel story

A. Bartel is a label produced by the historic Champagne house Chassenay d’Arce.Chassenay d’Arce was established in Ville-sur-Arce in 1956 by a group of local winegrowing families who wanted to combine their vineyards and expertise while preserving the identity of the Côte des Bar.

The house now brings together approximately 130 winegrowing families responsible for around 325 hectares of vineyards.

This cooperative structure allows growers to remain closely connected to their individual parcels while benefiting from shared winemaking facilities, technical knowledge and long term reserve wines.

A. Bartel Brut expresses the house’s approachable, fruit led style and the fuller character that Pinot Noir develops in the southern Champagne vineyards.

A collective approach

A. Bartel is not the creation of one isolated vineyard owner. It represents the combined work of families who grow grapes across the Côte des Bar.

This collective model gives the winemaking team access to fruit from different parcels and reserve wines from previous harvests, helping create balance and consistency in the final Champagne.

How is it made?

The grapes are harvested by hand and pressed as whole bunches. The juice is fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks. Stainless steel protects the fresh floral, apple and peach aromas without introducing oak flavours.

The base wines undergo malolactic fermentation, which softens their sharper natural acidity and helps create the wine’s rounded, supple texture.

Wines from different harvests are then blended to establish the final non vintage cuvée.

After bottling, a second fermentation takes place inside each individual bottle. This is the traditional method responsible for Champagne’s bubbles. The bottles mature on their lees for at least two years. During this period, contact with the spent yeast gradually contributes creamy texture and subtle notes of bread, toast and brioche.

The wine is then disgorged, given its Brut dosage and sealed with its final cork.

What does it taste like?

The colour is pale golden yellow, with a lively stream of fine bubbles. The nose is fresh and expressive, opening with white flowers, green apple, citrus and ripe yellow peach. As the Champagne develops in the glass, it reveals softer notes of pear, pastry and lightly toasted bread. The palate is fresh, generous and beautifully balanced. Pinot Noir provides rounded fruit and structure, while the acidity keeps the wine energetic and clean.

The bubbles feel soft and persistent rather than aggressive. Yellow fruit and citrus carry through the palate before a long finish of peach, toast and gentle brioche.

Is it sweet?

No. A. Bartel is a Brut Champagne and tastes dry.

“Brut” indicates that the Champagne contains a relatively low level of dosage. It may have a softer and more generous fruit profile than an Extra Brut or Brut Nature Champagne, but it should not taste obviously sweet.

Its ripe peach and apple aromas create an impression of fruitiness, while fresh acidity, minerality and fine bubbles keep the finish clean and balanced.

Serve it in a tulip shaped Champagne glass or a medium sized white wine glass rather than a very narrow flute. A slightly wider bowl gives the floral, fruit and brioche aromas enough room to open while preserving the bubbles.

How should I open it?

Keep the bottle well chilled and remove the foil. Hold the cork firmly while loosening the wire cage. Keep one hand on the cork at all times.

Tilt the bottle slightly and slowly turn the bottle not the cork until the pressure gently releases it.

A quiet sigh is preferable to a dramatic pop. It preserves more of the wine’s bubbles and gives you greater control over the cork.

Its acidity cuts through fried and creamy dishes, while its peach, apple and brioche notes complement seafood, pastry and mild cheese.