BAM! 2012+Réserve Perpetuelle Brut Nature

A champagne that brings together power, elegance and time. The nose marks a departure from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir: saffron, turmeric and cinnamon open the wine, followed by white and red currant, wild raspberry, ripe mango, grilled pineapple, papaya, persimmon and mirabelle plum. Beneath lie undergrowth, liquorice, dried marjoram and sage, wet stone, oyster shell and salted dough, along with a hint of smoke and flint and a warm, almost pastry-like note of tarte Tatin.

Champagne Tarlant is located in Œuilly and has existed since 1687. Benoît and Mélanie Tarlant run the estate in its twelfth generation, with 14 hectares spread across more than 55 parcels, farmed organically, without herbicides or synthetic plant protection products. The family does not pursue certification. Their great-grandfather Louis Tarlant, as mayor of Œuilly, organised the winegrowers' resistance in 1911 and helped secure the AOC boundaries.

BAM! stands for Blanc, Arbane, Meslier. The cuvée combines 46% Petit Meslier with 27% each of Pinot Blanc and Arbanne. The base is the harvest of 26 September 2012, supplemented with reserve wines from a solera dating back to 2007. In the cellar, the house works with wild yeasts, without filtration and without malolactic fermentation. It was disgorged on 3 June 2024 with 0 g/l dosage: Brut Nature, meaning without any added sugar, as has been the house's practice since the 1970s.

Saline and mineral, precise, with a finely textured mousse. Acidity, fruit, spice and structure interlock, with none taking the lead. Saffron and turmeric return, carried by ripe yellow and red fruit, while the mineral vein provides length and depth.

Tarlant cultivates all seven grape varieties permitted in Champagne. Benoît Tarlant sees the late-ripening rarities in BAM! as a response to climate change: "Diversity among the plants is the key to becoming more resilient."