TC Extra Brut, Blanc de Blancs Chouilly Grand Cru 2017

A Blanc de Blancs from the 2017 vintage that favours clarity over richness. The Extra Brut's minimal dosage lets the Chardonnay stand unadorned: citrus fruit, chalk stone and a saline edge, carried by a silky texture.

Chouilly is the northernmost Grand Cru of the Côte des Blancs, and the chalk soils shape every wine here. Jean-Pierre and Caroline Vazart run the house in its third generation; the headquarters remains the red-brick building erected by Louis-Victor Coquart in 1865. The eleven hectares comprise 30 parcels spread across the village's gentle hills, with vines averaging 44 years old and rooting deep into the limestone.

Pure Chardonnay. For the TC cuvée, Jean-Pierre Vazart ferments the base wines in terracotta eggs: the gentle oxygen exchange lends texture without costing precision. The house uses no oak barrels, working otherwise in stainless steel. The dosage is deliberately kept low so as not to mask the purity of the grape variety.

Vibrant and lean, with creamy mousse and pronounced salinity. White peach and lemon zest lead, with crisp brioche from lees ageing joining in, the finish staying chalky and dry.

With oysters and scallops, with sea bass ceviche, with turbot in lemon, or with air-dried Pata Negra ham.

Single-village Grand Cru Chardonnay, fermented in terracotta and bottled as Extra Brut with minimal dosage. 12.0% vol., 750 ml, dry.