Zero Brut Nature Base 2017 375ml

The entry point into Champagne Tarlant's range, and it immediately shows what the house stands for: clarity without sugar correction. Deep straw yellow with golden highlights, the bead very fine and quickly fading. The nose is dominated by a dry spice of dried herbs, hay and summer meadow, joined by freshly baked baguette, buttery brioche and toasted almonds, nutty and yeasty, never sweet. The fruit stays understated: mirabelle plum, ripe pear, yellow apple, a touch of underripe pineapple, topped off with lemon thyme, lemon balm and parsley.

Œuilly in Champagne, where the family has made wine since 1687 and where Louis Tarlant, as mayor in 1911, organised the growers' resistance against the large houses. Benoît and Mélanie Tarlant now run the estate in its twelfth generation: 14 hectares spread across more than 55 parcels, farmed organically, without herbicides or synthetic plant-protection products. The cuvée is made exclusively from grapes grown in the estate's own vineyards.

32% each of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, rounded out with 4% Pinot Blanc, Arbanne and Petit Meslier. The base is the 2017 vintage, supplemented with reserve wines. In the cellar, Benoît Tarlant works with wild yeasts, without filtration and without malolactic fermentation. Bottled for second fermentation in April 2018, disgorged only in July 2023, dosage 0 g/l.

The bead briefly lends lift and creaminess, then the pronounced acidity pulls the wine tight and focused into a long finish. Saline-mineral, cool, with subtle, almost underripe fruit in the background. The finish stays uncompromisingly dry: salinity, citrus and a freshness reminiscent of tequila.

Raw oysters, scallop carpaccio and sashimi, or aged Comté and pan-seared turbot with herb butter.

Champagne without dosage is no passing trend at Tarlant but a practice dating back to the 1970s; today more than 90 percent of production is Brut Nature, meaning no sugar is added after the second fermentation at all. All seven grape varieties permitted in Champagne are grown on the estate.