Champagne Gaston Collard: Bouzy Without Cushioning
Bouzy stands for powerful, structured Pinot Noir. Champagne Gaston Collard is a Récoltant-Manipulant (RM-21059-01) there, located at 3 rue de Tours-sur-Marne, run by Amandine and Cyril Collard, who took over the estate in 2012 and converted it to biodynamics.
The house works organically (FR-BIO-01) and is Demeter-certified. The same handwriting runs through all three bottles I have, and it's stated word for word on the back labels: levures indigènes, malolactique naturelle, ni filtré, ni collé. Cyril Collard clarified the malolactic fermentation in writing, saying it happens naturally and he doesn't provoke it.
What's notable about this house is how little it places between the grape variety and the glass. All three cuvées sit between 0 and 1 gram dosage. In a village known for power, that means no soft layer on top, just the variety itself, direct.
Three Bottles, Three Different Answers
The three cuvées aren't a lineup with gradations, but three different approaches to construction.
La Meule is a single-parcel vintage: one year, one site, nothing in between. Blanc de Noirs à Bouzy takes the opposite path, drawing its depth from the assemblage: a 2022 base with four reserve vintages from 2018 to 2021 and half the wine aged in barrel. Dosage Zéro sits in between, with 20 percent reserve wine and no dosage at all.
Open all three side by side, and you see the same village through three different methods.
The Cuvées in Detail
La Meule · Single-Parcel Vintage 2019 Grand Cru
100% Pinot Noir from the La Meule parcel, Millésime 2019. Bottled July 18, 2020, disgorged May 6, 2026, roughly 70 months on the lees. 1 g/L, Extra-Brut. Spontaneously fermented with indigenous yeasts, natural malolactic fermentation, neither filtered nor fined.
At the time of tasting, the bottle was only five months past disgorgement, young for a single-parcel vintage.
Blanc de Noirs à Bouzy · Extra Brut Grand Cru
100% Pinot Noir, harvest 2022, rounded out with reserve wines from the 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 vintages. Vinified and aged 50% in barrel and 50% in tank. Bottled July 19, 2023, disgorged May 6, 2026, 3 g/L Extra Brut.
⚠️ The label names the 2022 harvest, but the cuvée is not a declared vintage, the reserve wines are part of it.
Dosage Zéro · Grand Cru
the_champagne.guy 1 g/L Dosage bei einem Parzellen-Pinot Noir aus Bouzy. Fast sechs Jahre auf der Hefe. Weder filtriert noch geschönt. @champagnegastoncollard La Meule ist ein Parzellen-Millésime aus dem Grand-Cru-Dorf Bouzy, der Pinot-Noir-Hochburg der Montagne de Reims. Das Haus wird heute von Amandine und Cyril Collard geführt, die 2012 übernommen und auf Biodynamie umgestellt haben. Bouzy ist bekannt für kräftige, strukturierte Pinot-Noirs, und mit 1 g/L Dosage bekommt man hier keine weiche Schicht obendrauf, sondern die Rebsorte direkt. Diese Cuvée ist parzellenspezifisch, biodynamisch zertifiziert (FR-BIO-01 und Demeter), spontan vergoren mit indigenen Hefen, und die malolaktische Gärung läuft nach Angabe von Cyril natürlich ab, ohne dass er sie gezielt auslöst. Das landet so auch wörtlich auf dem Etikett. 🍾 Assemblage: 100% Pinot Noir 🏆 Jahrgang: 2019 🍷 Ausbau: Spontangärung, MLF naturelle, unfiltriert, ungeschönt ⏱ Reifung: ca. 70 Monate auf der Hefe (Abfüllung Juli 2020, Dégorgement Mai 2026) 🥂 Dosage: 1 g/l (Extra Brut) 📍 Lage: Parzelle La Meule, Bouzy, Grand Cru 💡 Charakter: cremig, erdig, nussig, konzentriert Ich gebe zu, ich hatte keine großen Erwartungen an so frisch degorgierte Flaschen. Erst fünf Monate nach dem Dégorgement, das ist für einen Parzellenjahrgang wirklich jung. Aber genau das war überraschend: unfassbar cremig, mit einer erdigen, leicht nussigen Tiefe, die ich nicht erwartet hätte. #BlancDeNoirs #Bouzy #GrandCru #GastonCollard #TheChampagneGuy @josephinenhutte @laclaye @grad.dk @grad_rd
Auf Instagram weiterlesen →90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay, harvest 2022 with 20% reserve wine. Bottled July 19, 2023, disgorged March 17, 2026. The label declares "Dosage Zéro", with no measured value given.
⚠️ Different alcohol content: 12.5% versus 12% for the two sister bottles.
My Tastings
- La Meule 2019 · 2026-10-15
Facts
| Category | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Récoltant-Manipulant (RM-21059-01) |
| Address | 3 rue de Tours-sur-Marne, 51150 Bouzy, France |
| Region | Montagne de Reims |
| Cru Classification | Grand Cru (Bouzy) |
| Management | Amandine and Cyril Collard, since 2012 |
| Certifications | Organic (FR-BIO-01), Demeter |
| Cellar Work | Spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts, natural malolactic fermentation, ni filtré ni collé |
| Dosage Range | 0 to 3 g/l across the full range |
| Phone | +33 3 26 57 02 43 |
| @champagnegastoncollard |
Sources for this portrait: back labels of the three bottles I have, written information from Cyril Collard (September 29, 2026) and my own tastings. Fields without sufficient verification remain open.