Les Regards d'Avize Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs 2014

A vintage Champagne from a single plot that openly displays its long lees aging: brioche, pastry and nougat ahead of ripe yellow fruit, along with dates, praline and honey. Bottled with no dosage and therefore fully dry.

The grapes come from a 42.79-are single vineyard in Avize, situated at 100 meters and roughly two kilometers from the domaine. Avize is one of the Grand Cru communes of the Côte des Blancs, where the family has been established for five generations.

Chardonnay, planted in 1963. Hand-harvested, pressed in a traditional Coquard press with a 4000-kilogram capacity, with only the first-press juice (cuvée) vinified. Spontaneous alcoholic fermentation and aging in 600-liter Burgundian demi-muids, followed by spontaneous malolactic fermentation, with no sulfur added until bottling. After at least five years sur lattes, hand-disgorged with no dosage. Bottled at 4.5 bar, which makes the mousse creamier.

Well-balanced acidity alongside a silky mousse, along with ripe yellow fruit featuring grapefruit and orange and a generous dose of yeast. The Champagne stays linear through to the finish, underpinned by minerality and salinity.

Prawns with pea and lemon risotto and watercress, fjord trout with Amalfi lemon mayonnaise and lightly roasted Jerusalem artichoke, or roasted chicken wings with curry panko flakes and rice crackers.

Around 700 bottles. Jean-Philippe Waris has overseen vinification since 2009 and converted the nine hectares to biodynamic farming in 2011; Demeter certification followed in 2020, with the logo featured on the label. 12.0% ABV.