This Expérience cuvée lives up to its name! This Blanc de Blancs, made from old vines in Avize Grand Cru, in the Robards and Bionnes localities, is the ultimate challenge in natural champagne. Far from the dominant practices in Champagne, it is made without any exogenous inputs. No chaptalization, parcel-by-parcel winemaking in demi-muids, and fermentation that starts solely with the action of indigenous yeasts. But the big breakthrough, after a year in demi-muids, is the addition of grape must from the same vineyard during the following harvest, instead of the liqueur de tirage, to restart the second fermentation in the bottle, the famous prise de mousse. The unfiltered and unfined wines are bottled by hand with corks and wire caps. The wines then spend four years on their lees, with riddling also carried out manually and disgorging taking place 60 days before release to preserve all their natural freshness. No dosage is added!
From the very first nose, you can tell that the experiment has been a success. Here, the brightness and purity of the fruit are irresistible; frank notes of fresh grapes, but also ripe and juicy white fruits, citrus fruits, and lime are underscored by a chalky minerality. The bouquet then gradually reveals a beautiful complexity of white flowers, acacia honey, cardamom, marzipan, grapefruit, and candied citron, sprinkled with a slight hint of truffle.
The palate is smooth and salty, bringing out the very ripe and fleshy fruit while retaining a great sense of finesse. Such purity, such precision! How can you resist this long, salty, catchy, and sapid finish? A revelation!
This Brut Nature Blanc de Blanc Venus from Maison Agrapart pairs perfectly with truffles: white truffles on risotto or black truffles with Brie. But a simple sea bass en croûte or lobster with chanterelle mushrooms and candied lemon also make for a sublime pairing.
