L'Enclume, Brut Nature 2011

A vintage Champagne without a single gram of sugar, cool and straightforward, carried by ten years of lees ageing. Golden yellow in the glass, with a fine, persistent bead. On the nose toasted hazelnut, dried mirabelle plum, lemon zest and brioche, underscored by chalk and smoky flint.

The lieu-dit L'Enclume lies in Œuilly in the Vallée de la Marne, at 135 metres on an east-facing slope with a 15 percent gradient above the river. The subsoil consists of flint over limestone. In the vineyard, the soil is only worked shallowly beneath the rows, with natural cover growth between them; fertilisation is done with green manure or organic matter, upkeep through herbal treatment, and pruning follows the Poussard method adapted from Chablis. The 2011 vintage was turbulent: a spring so dry that harvest began early, followed by a very cool July and August.

100 percent Chardonnay, harvested on 30 August 2011. The vines come from massal selection, planted from 1977 onward by Denise and Geo Tarlant as well as Micheline and Jean-Mary Tarlant, the tenth and eleventh generations. Slow gravity pressing, spontaneous fermentation and six months on the lees in Burgundy barrels, with no malolactic fermentation and no fining. Bottled on 2 May 2012, disgorged on 6 June 2022 after ten years of lees ageing in bottle, dosage zero grams per litre, hence Brut Nature.

Taut and clearly defined: green apple and citrus zest, with the spice notes of barrel ageing behind them. The texture remains silky, the acidity carries rather than pierces. The finish turns saline and iodine-like, and the chalky note lingers longer than the fruit.

Oysters and raw seafood, scallops in brown butter, sole meunière, delicately smoked fish, chicken fricassee with morels or medium-aged Comté.

1,900 bottles from a single parcel. Champagne Tarlant has existed since 1687 and has been bottling Champagne without dosage since the 1970s, today accounting for over 90 percent of production. The 14 hectares are farmed organically, wild yeasts work in the cellar, and no filtration is applied; the estate does not pursue official certification.