Champagne Verzy Grand Cru ’Les Montants’ - Chardonnay (18)

Chardonnay | Lieu-dit 'Les Montants' in Verzy Grand Cru | volledig houtgerijpt | 0,8g dosage | chalky | breed | rijp citrusfruit | lichte reductie 

Adrien Renoir

Gelegen in Verzy, een van de 17 grand grus in de champagne, gelegen op de Montagne de Reims. Vind je Adrien Renoir, de vierde generatie wijnmaker. Ook hier word artisanaal te werk gegaan. Met de hand plukken en persen in eigen chateau en vergist op staal en hout. Dit voor de balans van frisheid en textuur in de champagne. Ik ben meteen ingestapt met zijn eerste release waar ik erg blij mee ben. Het gebied wordt gedomineerd door de Pinot Noir druif en daar krijg je een erg stoere stijl champagne van, maar ook erg nobel en elegant.

Review

Disgorged in February 2020 without dosage, Renoir's 2016 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Les Montants offers up aromas of nashi pear, pastry cream, apple blossom and vanilla pod. Full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with tangy acids and a chiseled, taut mid-palate, it's complemented by a pillowy mousse and concludes with a long, penetrating finish. This is a touch more tightly wound than the richer, fleshier 2015 rendition. On a separate occasion, I tasted an April 2020 disgorgement, and the notes are unsurprisingly very similar. 94+/100 William Kelley 

As I wrote last year, the young Adrien Renoir took over this four-hectare domaine in Verzy a few years ago, launching his eponymous label in 2019. Working exclusively with estate fruit, he abandoned herbicides in 2015 and attained organic certification in 2020. In the cellar, he started out with one or two barrels and, appreciating the results, now vinifies everything in barrel, maturing his reserve wines in oak foudres. Winemaking here is artisanal, with ambient yeast fermentations, lees stirring and no temperature control. The wines are disgorged with jetting but without any added sulfites and dosed with MCR. Every new release from Renoir seems to surpass the last, so I can only encourage readers to start paying attention to one of Champagne's brightest young talents.