Derrière le Mont Aigu N°16 Chouilly Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut 2016

The Derrière le Mont Aigu N°16 is a single-parcel Champagne from Chouilly, bottled as Extra Brut with a 3 g/L dosage. It is the second parcel cuvée in the Les Fidèles collection and shows Chardonnay the way Pertois-Lebrun sees it: bone dry, with no dressing up in the cellar, carried by tension rather than fullness.

The Derrière le Mont Aigu site lies in the Grand Cru commune of Chouilly, whose deep chalk soils give the Chardonnay its vibrant tension. The parcel measures 59.30 ares, was planted in 1955 by grandfather Paul Pertois and has a pure south-facing exposure with 70-year-old vines. The family estate, based in Cramant, farms around eight hectares of Grand Cru sites on the Côte des Blancs, planted exclusively to Chardonnay, harvested by hand.

100% Chardonnay. Only the cuvées, meaning the first pressings, were used. Alcoholic fermentation took place at 17°C, malolactic fermentation was carried out, after which the wine aged for ten months on fine lees, 62% in tank and 38% in oak barrel. Clarification occurred naturally, with no fining and no filtration.

Intense straw yellow, fine mousse. The nose opens ripe and delicate with lemon curd, ripe yellow plums, sweet almonds and butter biscuit, overlaid with oyster shell, white blossom and lemon zest. Lively and playful, agile, powerful, juicy, led by salinity and minerality, mouth-watering and long.

1,625 bottles were filled in July 2017, with disgorgement following in July 2025. This extended time on lees explains the maturity evident in the glass. Each bottle is riddled by hand, and production is deliberately kept small.