Ayala

Editorial profile

Champagne AYALA is a historic house in Aÿ, founded in 1860 and today part of Groupe Bollinger. The Union des Maisons de Champagne records a 21-hectare vineyard estate, Hadrien Mouflard as Managing Director and Julian Gout as Cellar Master and Oenologist.

The present range is built around a clear technical idea: Chardonnay is the majority grape across the core multi-vintage wines, while dosage is kept relatively low. That identity is visible in the current Brut Majeur, Brut Nature and Rosé Majeur, and is developed further through vintage Blanc de Blancs, Perle 2015 and the limited AYALA Collection.

Why this producer matters

• AYALA has operated from Aÿ since its foundation in 1860 and has belonged to the Bollinger group since 2005.
• Brut Majeur combines a large number of crus and a substantial reserve-wine component, giving the house a broad blending base despite its relatively modest own-vineyard holding.
• The vintage and Collection wines provide a more focused counterpoint to the multi-cru core range, including Chardonnay from Aÿ itself.
• The house maintains traditional cellar practices for Perle, including ageing under cork, riddling on pupitres and hand disgorgement for the current 2015 release.

House and vineyard identity

AYALA's historic site is in Aÿ, one of Champagne's best-known Grand Cru villages. The current UMC record places the house within Groupe Bollinger and lists a 21 ha vineyard estate. As with many maisons, however, the scale and diversity of the blends extend beyond the estate: Brut Majeur currently draws on 70 crus across several Champagne subregions.

The house also describes an organic-conversion programme for its own vineyard.

Winemaking and cellar approach

The current Brut Majeur specification is 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Meunier. AYALA states that the blend uses 70 crus, more than 40% reserve wines and separate micro-vinifications in 120 small stainless-steel vats. The current release is aged for about three years on lees and dosed at 6 g/L.

Brut Nature follows the same current 55/30/15 grape proportions but receives no dosage. Rosé Majeur has its own formula and should not be inferred from the white wines: the current specification is 51% Chardonnay, 39% Pinot Noir and 10% Meunier, including 5% red Grand Cru wine, with 6 g/L dosage.

Those figures are release-era specifications, not permanent historical recipes.

Current and meaningful cuvées

• Brut Majeur: the current multi-cru, multi-vintage reference wine; 55% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 15% Meunier, with 6 g/L dosage.
• Brut Nature: the zero-dosage expression of the current Chardonnay-majority core blend.
• Rosé Majeur: the current rosé, with its own 51/39/10 blend and a small component of red Grand Cru Pinot Noir wine.
• Le Blanc de Blancs A/19: the current year-coded Blanc de Blancs shown in the house range. The A/19 designation matters because this wine evolves by release rather than following one timeless technical formula.
• Perle 2015: the current prestige vintage, made from 80% Chardonnay and 20% Pinot Noir from Aÿ, Chouilly, Cramant, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger; aged for at least eight years under cork and dosed at 5 g/L for this release.
• AYALA Collection N°18: the fifth Collection release, a 2018 Blanc de Blancs from the house's own Cocheret parcel in Aÿ, issued as 9,998 numbered bottles.

Champagne.co analysis

AYALA's modern identity is easiest to see as a conversation between breadth and focus. Brut Majeur uses a wide network of crus and reserve wines to build continuity, while Blanc de Blancs, Perle and the numbered Collection progressively narrow the lens toward vintage, selected Grand Crus or a specific house-owned parcel.

Chardonnay links those two sides of the range. It is not confined to the Blanc de Blancs wines: it is the majority component in the core Brut Majeur, Brut Nature and Rosé Majeur as well. Collection N°18 pushes that idea into less expected territory by presenting Chardonnay grown in Aÿ, a village more commonly associated with Pinot Noir.

The main point for readers is to keep release versions straight. Brut Majeur has changed blend composition, Blanc de Blancs is year-coded and Collection wines are intentionally ephemeral. Exact release names and technical data are therefore more reliable than treating older specifications as permanent house rules.

Buying guidance

Brut Majeur is the clearest introduction to the current house model and its Chardonnay-majority multi-cru blending. Choose Brut Nature when the same broad core idea without dosage is the priority, and Rosé Majeur for the house's current rosé construction.

For a more focused Chardonnay expression, look for the exact year-coded Le Blanc de Blancs, currently A/19. Perle 2015 is the current prestige-vintage reference and is the most relevant bottle for readers interested in AYALA's long-ageing, under-cork cellar work. Collection N°18 is the more specialised choice: a limited, numbered Blanc de Blancs from the house's own Aÿ parcel.