Tarlant 2004 Cuvee Louis Brut Nature Champagne

A blend of equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the 2004 Cuvee Louis Tarlant is fabulous, Hints of orange peel, tangerine oil, mint, cinnamon, chamomile and dried flowers all grace the 2004. There is a gorgeous sense of transparency to the 2004 a Champagne that is a t once vibrant, but also mellowed by the passage of time 95 Points  Galloni, Vinous May 2022

50% Chardonnay /50% Pinot Noir. Created by the Tarlants' parents back in 1982, the prestige cuvée Louis is named for Benoît’s and Melanie’s great-great-great grandfather. Louis was the first to bottle Tarlant estate wine (in 1928) and the one who planted this 0.9 hectare of selection massale Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (in 1946-48). The lieu-dit is named Les Crayons in reference to its particularly chalky make-up and is a flat site near the Marne in the Tarlant home village of Oeuilly that yields a "river wine", as the Tarlants refer to it, of fuller body and richer character.

The fruit was hand-harvested and gently pressed; the juice was fermented with natural yeasts in Burgundy barrel; and the wine was aged in barrel with no malolactic fermentation until bottling in 2005. Aged sur lattes until disgorgement with zero dosage in early 2021. Unusually, the 2004 is a vintage wine, the first time since 1996, and is now labeled "Cuvée Louis Tarlant".

Organic Farming

Disgorged: Feb. 2021, Zero dosage