This Cuvée Expérience lives up to its name! This Blanc de blancs, from old Avize Grand Cru vines in the Robards and Bionnes lieux-dits, is the ultimate challenge to natural Champagne. Far from the prevailing practices in Champagne, it is made without any eXOgenic inputs. No chaptalization, parcel-by-parcel vinification in demi-muids, and fermentations started solely with indigenous yeasts. But the great advance, after a year in demi-muids, is the addition of grape must from the same vineyard during the following harvest, in place of the liqueur de tirage, to kick-start the Secsecond fermentation in the bottle, the famous prise de mousse. Unfined and unfiltered wines are bottled by hand, using corks and staples. The wines then spend 3 years on their lees, with riddling also carried out by hand, and disgorging 60 days before release to preserve all their natural freshness. No dosage is carried out!
From the very first nose, you sense that the experiment has been a success. Here, the brilliance and purity of the fruit are irresistible; frank notes of fresh grapes but also of ripe, juicy white fruit, citrus, lime, are underlined by a chalky minerality. Then the bouquet gradually reveals a beautiful complexity, white flowers, acacia honey, cardamom, marzipan, grapefruit and candied citron, sprinkled with a light touch of truffle.
The palate is suave and saline to thrill very ripe, fleshy fruit while retaining a great sensation of finesse. What purity, what precision! How can you resist that long, saline, gripping, sapid finish. A revelation!
This Brut nature Blanc de Blanc Venus from Maison Agrapart pairs perfectly with truffles: white on risotto or black for Brie. But a simple sea bass in a salt crust, or a lobster with chanterelles and preserved lemon, will make a sublime pairing.
