Cuvée Camille Chouilly Grand Cru L2023

The Cuvée Camille is a dry Champagne made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, taut in structure and saline in freshness. Lemon zest and yellow apple lead, followed by white blossom and a note of damp chalk. Precision before opulence — that is the house's signature.

Chouilly is the northernmost grand cru of the Côte des Blancs, where the chalk soils are especially pure. Jean-Pierre and Caroline Vazart run Vazart-Coquart & Fils in the third generation, headquartered in the red-brick house built by Louis-Victor Coquart in 1865. The 11 hectares are spread across 30 parcels over the village's hillsides, including the Montaigu vineyard. The vines average 44 years old and root deep into the limestone.

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Jean-Pierre Vazart ferments and ages the wine in stainless steel, not oak: the wine is meant to show the terroir, not the vessel. The house keeps dosage low so the fruit stays clear.

Fine, persistent bead, lively acidity, a core of yellow fruit and citrus. The finish remains saline and chalky.

With oysters and seafood, with pan-seared scallops and sole. Also with veal fillet and white poultry, finishing with aged Comté.

In 2020, Jean-Pierre Vazart gave up the Réserve Perpétuelle maintained since 1982, as it could no longer be reconciled with the shift to organic viticulture. His standard: you must be the first admirer of your own Champagnes, so they have to be excellent.