How did the N°7 Ayala vintage come about?
We started the Ayala Collection in 2016, with cuvée N°8. A 2008 vintage rosé, but initially the first conception of the Collection element was Cuvée N°7.It's a blend of 7 Grands Crus from the 2007 vintage.
What was so special about 2007?
2007 really resonates with me, because it's the year I joined Champagne Ayala.I was assistant to the previous cellar master, Nicolas Klym, who wasn't much of a talker, but he passed on a lot to me.I was very curious about everything, asking lots of questions and soaking up the house style!When the harvest came along, he suggested I make my own expression of the Maison Ayala style.
It was a great opportunity for you, a newcomer to Champagne Ayala, wasn't it?
It was an incredible opportunity for me.Already to have the opportunity to create a blend, but when I realized that we were going to reveal it a few years later, it was an enormous satisfaction!Nicolas Klym had given me a gift, and I took it as a challenge!
How did you go about creating Cuvée N°7?
I didn't necessarily have the same choices as my predecessor. I have a great affinity for Chardonnay, so I wanted to include a lot of it in my blend. And during the harvest and the first months of vinification, I concentrated on a Blanc de Blanc. I selectedselected Chardonnays from the Côte des Blancs. Initially, 12 vats, then 7 vats, and finally 5 crus with a strong House identity, which for me have their own specific characteristics that really bring something to the blend. On the Chouilly vineyard, the grapes offer generosity and finesse. Oger is more generous in fruit and opulence. Cramant, more for its minerality, structure and slightly chalky side, and Mesnil-sur-Oger, for its tension and very luminous aspect, which will really give it incredible ageing potential.
Then you added Pinot noir?
Yes, once I had my 5 Grands Crus from the Côte des Blancs in Chardonnay, I did some tests, with the addition of Pinot Noir.This caught the attention of Nicolas Klym. By adding a little Aÿ, which is the expression of finesse and generosity of fruit, and Verzy where we have something very structured and quite charismatic, it really gave another dimension to the wine.The blend proved quite obvious during the test. In the end, it's a cuvée with 70% Chardonnay blended with 30% Pinot Noir, which totally reveals the cuvée as I had imagined it.
IsCuvée N°7 your interpretation of the Ayala style?
Yes, in its expression of finesse, freshness, purity and elegance.That's what defines the Ayala Champagne style for me.
So it had great potential right from the start?
Enormous potential, yes.We imagined it could be cellared for more than 8 years, and the corking at the time of bottling and the long ageing on the lees seemed quite obvious.This requires special attention, riddling on a rack, disgorging by hand, and low dosage - all the very traditional processes to which we are very attached and which we want to perpetuate at Maison Ayala.
Is a third opus in the Ayala collection already in the pipeline?
We started this Collection with rosé N°8, then this cuvée N°7. At Champagne Ayala, we're driven by curiosity and challenge, and it's true that this Collection will continue, that's for sure.I've got lots of little nuggets in the cellar that are in gestation.The Collection must reveal Ayala's signature style.I experiment with different things every year, which are meant to be revealed over the years.It's really the wine that speaks when it's ready, it becomes available. We could have released Cuvée N°7 before N°8, for example, but in the end it took longer for it to become an even more accomplished cuvée.In the end, it's really the wine that decides its own launch.
Is N°7 a cuvée for laying down?
Without hesitation, yes.It's an aromatic explosion on the nose.It expresses fruit in all its forms, with white flowers, lightly stewed white fruits, plums and mirabelle plums.Slight hints of eucalyptus and ginger can also be detected.This is a cuvée with a very fine expression on the nose.On the palate, very seductive tension and lovely freshness.It claims to be able to live for several more years.In 5 years' time, it will still be a sublime cuvée, no problem.
What dish should you serve this beautiful N°7 with?
You'll make this cuvée a magnificent epicurean aperitif with, why not, a few small cubes of old Comté cheese, where you have that duality of salt crystals that will really bring out the N°7.It can also accompany a lovely dish, such as poularde, a very tasty and tender white meat.
