Aria, Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut

A Blanc de Blancs built on tension and salinity: taut, cool, with a chalky-powdery drive and an extract that gives substance to its lean frame. The mousse is present and adds further grip.

The grapes come predominantly from the single vineyard "Les Longues Raies" in Troissy, in the Vallée de la Marne. The subsoil is a mosaic of chalk, limestone, marl, sand, clay and carbonate rock, topped by brown loam that defines the topsoil. Alexis Leconte runs the family estate based in Troissy-Bouquigny in its sixth generation and farms around 10 hectares across some 40 parcels, using exclusively estate-grown grapes. After first steps back toward organic farming from 2013, he converted the entire estate to biodynamic principles, with cover cropping, deep ploughing and work carried out according to lunar and seasonal cycles.

100% Chardonnay, fermented with the vineyard's own yeasts, aged exclusively in oak, in barriques and tonneaux. Malolactic fermentation is avoided at the estate. Tirage in April 2020, followed by nearly three years of lees ageing in bottle, disgorged in February 2023 and dosed at 3 grams, making it an Extra Brut.

The nose opens with oyster shell and wet chalk, alongside lemon zest, lemon blossom and lemon curd, plus stone fruit, fine bread crumb, roasted hazelnuts and almonds. The entry is taut and saline-cool, the acidity linear and precisely drawn. Beneath lies juicy fruit of citrus, lemon and grapefruit, complemented by white nougat. The finish remains citrus-creamy.

Alexis Leconte worked in Alsace and Burgundy before returning to Troissy in 2013, bringing back a conviction: great sparkling wine starts with great still wine, with the perlage as a bonus, not the point. The Aria shows that Chardonnay, too, has its place in this Meunier-defined house.