Agrapart Complantée Extra Brut Grand Cru

Agrapart Complantée Extra Brut Grand Cru

$223.00
6 + $200.70 each
12 + $186.21 each
-
Quantity  
1
+

Vintage

NV

Size

750ml

Country

France

Region

Champagne

Description

Complantée comes from a single parcel in Avize that Agrapart co-planted (complantée) with six varieties: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, as well as the heirloom Champagne varieties of Arbane, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc. The vines are all in the Fosse vineyard, the same site that gives us the great Vénus cuvée (the name of the specific part of the vineyard where these vines are situated is La Fosse à Bull). With this wine, Pascal Agrapart is delving into the past to try to understand what the ancient varieties and the traditional practice of co-plantation can bring to the table.

The fruit for this release is based on the 2017 harvest, with 20% reserve wine from 2016. The fruit was hand-harvested together, co-fermented and barrel-aged before being put to bottle without filtration. The wine rested for just over two years on its lees and was dosed with less than five grams per litre.

The wine’s atypical savouriness and notes of nettle, crushed herbs and subtle spice may be unfamiliar in a Champagne context, yet the vibrant clarity and driving mineral freshness crackle across the palate and speak loudly of Avize. We’ll leave the final word(s) to Peter Liem: “While there are a number of champagnes being made from these varieties today, Agrapart’s is surely one of the finest.” As the note below also makes clear, this is something special.

“The NV Extra Brut Grand Cru Complantée emerges from a parcel in Avize interplanted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbane, Petit Meslier and Chardonnay. Exotic and beguiling in the glass, the Complantée is absolutely gorgeous. Kirsch, red plum, rose petal and spice give the wine striking aromatic intensity and lovely inner perfume. The red grapes seem especially expressive in this release. The Complantée is not an obvious wine, rather it is a Champagne of translucent finesse.” 93 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous