Cuvée "Envol" Brut Nature Sans Soufre Ajouté 2019

Uncompromisingly dry: zero grams of residual sugar, and no added sulphur. What remains is Pinot Noir on chalk — precise, chalky, with a starkness that sharpens the fruit rather than masking it.

Les Riceys in the Côte des Bar is the only village in Champagne permitted to produce three appellations: champagne, still wine and rosé des Riceys. Beneath the vines lies Kimmeridgian chalk, the foundation of the wine's pronounced minerality. The Horiot family has cultivated vines here since the 17th century. Olivier Horiot took over the estate from his father Serge in 1999 and immediately converted it to organic farming; since 2010 he has worked biodynamically, ploughing the soils with horses and excluding all synthetic additives.

Pure Pinot Noir, the leading variety at 75 percent of the estate's roughly eight hectares. Each parcel is harvested and vinified separately, with spontaneous fermentation using wild yeasts in used barriques; Marie Horiot oversees the work in the cellar. Neither filtered nor fined, and here also without any added sulphur. Bottled as Brut Nature, meaning without dosage.

In the glass, brilliant gold with copper highlights; on the nose, cherry and raspberry, brioche and white blossom. The palate opens bone dry, with taut acidity and juicy fruit; the finish stays chalky, mineral and long.

Oysters or a simple sole in butter echo the mineral structure. Comté and aged Parmesan work equally well, or, more rustically, charcuterie.

Olivier Horiot bottles all his champagnes without dosage and vinifies all seven permitted grape varieties, including the near-extinct Arbane. He is a member of the winegrowers' association Terres et Vins.