Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs extra brut Champ d'Alouette 2007

The 2004 Chardonnay Mesnil-sur-Oger Grand Cru "Champ d'Alouette" was fermented and aged for six months in oak and offers an intense, pure yet ripe and complex bouquet with spicy-mineral flavors. Terribly rich and mouthfilling on the palate, this is a concentrated yet complex and fruit-intense Chardonnay with firm grip and mineral expression. No malolactic fermentation. Expressive and very promising. The wine was dosed with 2.5 grams per liter in April 2017. Tasted April 2018.

I met bordelais Julie Médeville in Reims earlier this year when she presented me with a small but fine collection of the newest releases from the nine-hectare domaine that she founded together with champenois Xavier Gonet 18 years ago in Bisseuil in the Grande Vallée. Their vineyard holdings are here (five hectares) as well as in the Montage de Reims (one hectare in Ambonnay) and in the Côte des Blancs (two hectares in Mesnil-sur-Orger). The couple works the soils and doesn't chaptalize, fine or filter any of the wine, which also doesn't go through malolactic fermentation. The wines ferment largely in oak barrels and represent a ripe and powerful but fresh style with good aging potential.

Published: Aug 31, 2018 by Stephan Reinhardt
* Bewertung eines abweichenden Jahrgangs.