Argilité Brut Nature 2016

A blanc de blancs that forgoes any dosage: the Argilité Brut Nature 2016 favours tension over fullness. The texture stays fine, the acidity carries the wine in a straight line, and the finish is long and saline. Anyone seeking substance over sweetness will find it here.

Champagne Tarlant has cultivated its vineyards in Œuilly on the Marne since 1687, today run by the twelfth generation, Benoît and Mélanie Tarlant. 14 hectares spread across more than 55 plots, each with its own soil identity. The name Argilité refers to the soil's high clay content, which gives the Chardonnay its structure. Œuilly was also home to Louis Tarlant, who in 1911, as mayor, organised the winegrowers' resistance and helped secure the AOC boundaries.

Pure Chardonnay, fermented with wild yeasts, without malolactic fermentation and without filtration. Jean-Mary Tarlant reintroduced barrel fermentation in the late 1970s, around the same time he began bottling Champagne without dosage. The 2016 vintage aged on the lees for several years; the bottle holds 12.0% ABV.

Pale golden yellow with a fine, persistent bead. On the nose, lemon, white peach and green apple, followed by brioche, chalk and white blossom. The wine stays dry right through the finish: vibrant acidity, saline minerality, nothing sweet to cushion it.

Oysters and sole in beurre blanc, grilled squid, goat cheese or an aged Comté. It also drinks well on its own as an aperitif.

Over 90 percent of Tarlant's production is Brut Nature, meaning no sugar is added after the second fermentation — a path the house has followed since the 1970s. The entire vineyard area is farmed organically, without herbicides or synthetic plant protection products; the work follows biodynamic practices, though the estate does not pursue certification.