Tarlant Zero Brut Nature B2017
CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
"The NV (2017) Brut Nature Zero is a terrific introduction to the Tarlant range. Dry and bracing, the Brut Nature Zero offers up hints of dried orchard fruit, chalk, mint, white pepper and slate. All the elements are so well balanced. The no-dosage style here is quite evident in the slightly angular contours." - 92 PTS, ANTONIO GALLONI, VINOUS MEDIA (04/2025)
"Based on the 2017 vintage, the NV Champagne Zero Brut Nature is 30% each Pinot Noir, Meunier, and Chardonnay, with a small amount of Petit Meslier, Arbanne, and Pinot Blanc, and it was disgorged in July 2023. It’s a lovely release that feels perfectly suited to the vintage, with a supple, sunny, shiny character, a pillowy mousse, and notes of citrus oils, raw honey, lime pith, herbs, and hints of mint. Medium-bodied, it has a refined, chalky texture and refreshing acidity without austerity, and the savory freshness really sings. As it opens, a more floral perfume rises out of the glass. Drink now or over the next 7-8 years." - 92 PTS, AUDREY FRICK, JEB DUNNUCK (12/2025)
IMPORTER NOTES:
OVERVIEW: "32% Pinot Noir/32% Chardonnay/32% Pinot Meunier/4% Petit Meslier + Arbanne + Pinot Blanc. This cuvée is the majority of Tarlant's production and "is my daily obsession", says Benoît Tarlant. Zero reflects the Tarlant emphasis on unadorned terroir, with no selected yeasts and no dosage. The compostion is generally 60% of the base vintage--in this case 2017--plus 40% reserve wines. The organically farmed, hand-harvested fruit comes potentially from all 63 of Tarlant's parcels from across 4 villages (Oeuilly, Boursault, St-Agnan and Celles-lès-Condé), with each vinified separately to give maximum flexibility in dialing in the blend."
WINEMAKING: “The fruit is gently pressed and the juice fermented with natural yeasts in Burgundy barrels ranging from new to 30 years old. The wine generally does not go through malolactic fermentation. Moved by gravity only, the new vintage is blended with barrel-aged reserve wines. The 2017-base was bottled in 2018 and disgorged in 2023 with zero dosage, as the name of the wine emphasizes.”
ABOUT THE PRODUCER: "With a viticultural history in Champagne that dates back to 1687, the Tarlant estate consists of 14 hectares of vines within 31 lieu-dits of Pinot Noir (50%), Chardonnay (30%) and Pinot Meunier(20%), along with small amounts of Champagne's "forgotten"grapes" - Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier. In the cellar, the grapes are gently pressed and racked by gravity to Burgundian barrels,where each parcel ferments and ages individually. Malolactic fermentation almost never occurs but is not blocked: Sulfites are only added in microscopic doses at press and intermittently to casks of reserve wine. The wines are never filtered.
The big particularity of the Tarlant Champagnes, a tradition started by Benoît's father Jean-Mary in the late 1970's, is that the vast majority of the production (90%) is bottled without dosage. While the idea of Brut Nature Champagne has slowly but surely gained momentum since the early 2000's, this was unheard of at the time. Still, Jean-Mary stuck to his guns and over time this has defined the Tarlant style. In such, the house's entry level cuvées are named 'Zero'."