Tarlant | Champagne | Cuvée Louis, Brut Nature Millésime | 1996 | 750ml

Beschreibung

Product description for Tarlant Cuvée Louis, Brut Nature Millésime 1996

Information from the winery

CUVÉE LOUIS TARLANT 1996 × 2024

MARNE RIVER, MY DARLING RIVER

1996 is sold to all the idées reçues qui associent à chaque millésime leurs lots de contrariétés, le millésime s’affirme comme touché par la grace. On se souvient encore du vent du nord qui a permis de balayer les risques de gel puis de protéger les vignes des maladies au printemps, tout comme à l’approche des vendanges où il a permis de sécher et assainir les grappes après les épisodes pluvieux des quelques jours precédents. With a maturity of the raisins that is mounted in intensity with a rhythm régulier combined with a high acidity in the moisture, the millésime 1996 was rapidly affirming the substance of the millésimes mythiques. Il n’a cessé de le démontrer depuis lors.

En bas du coteau du village d’Œuilly, with a sous-sol de craie et l’ influence d’une rivière froide, this small parcel is the expression la plus pure du terroir d’Œuilly. Planted in 5 generations by Louis Tarlant in an époque où les pépiniéristes n’existaient guère, les ceps sont toujours vaillants et résistants aux dérèglements climatiques and chaque generation Tarlant après Louis a œuvré avec son sens de The excellence of viticole, the detail of the work and the work of acharné to express a balanced nature and the taste of unique terroirs. À contre-courant de notre époque de l’instantané, nous avons décidé de le dégorger comme l’expression d’un champagne parcellaire de 2024, après 28 ans d’élevage car ce brilliant cru introspectif du lieu-dit Les Crayons d’Œuilly le mérite ! Nous sommes partisans du minimalisme, the va de soi que l’expression est Brut Nature.

TERROIR

LIEU-DIT “Les Crayons” SOUS-SOL Craie pure du Campanien

VILLAGE Œuilly, Vallée de la Marne

PENTE 12% with an exposure d’Est à Ouest, sculptée par la rivière Marne

ALTITUDE 90 mètres

ÂGE DE LA VIGNE Selection massale plantée de 1946 au 1948 par Louis, Georges et Germaine et Geo Tarlant

CULTURE DE LA VIGNE Minimal perturbation of the sol avec enherbement naturel inter-rangs, léger Labor sous le rang. Études de plantes, applications d’herbothérapie.Taille douce Chablis et Cordon de Royat méthode Poussard. Engrais vert et fertilization naturelle

CÉPAGES 50% Pinot Noir & 50% Chardonnay

VIN

VENDANGES 1 & 4 October 1996

VINIFICATION TRADITIONNELLE Pressurage doux par gravité. Première fermentation spontaneousée and 8 mois sur lies de vendanges en fûts de chêne bourguignons. Sans malolactique provoquée. No filtration or clarification

BOTTLE MIXING Spring 1997

DISGRACTION 26 years and 1 month of bottling.

DOSAGE 0 g/L Brut Nature

About the wine

The “Cuvée Louis Tarlant” is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir from the Les Crayons vineyard. The vineyard is located in Œuilly at an altitude of 90 meters on the Marne and has a 12% east-west slope. As the name suggests, it is a terroir characterized by chalk. The first vines were planted by great-grandfather Louis Tarlant, but most of the vines were planted as a mass selection between 1946 and 1948 by Louis, Georges, Germaine, and Geo Tarlant.

The wine was produced in 1996, when the siblings’ parents were still at the time. Mélanie and Benoît decided to keep this great vintage in the cellar until it seemed perfectly ripe. The base wine fermented spontaneously in Burgundy oak barrels. Tarlant generally forgoes malolactic fermentation. The wine was also aged in wooden barrels. After bottling in the spring of 1997, the wine matured for 26 years in the winery’s cellars until the dégorgement on June 5, 2023. The dosage is zero grams.

Color

Golden yellow with amber reflections and a fine mousse.

Nose

If you’re lucky enough to get the 1996 Cuvée Louis Tarlant in your glass, it opens with an almost unsettling freshness. This champagne is supposed to be almost 30 years old? Never ever… However, you can definitely tell that it has a certain maturity. There are notes of orange paste and lightly roasted nuts, but also a fresh citrus and zesty scent, a hint of iodine and a fresh sea breeze, then white and red berries, as well as soft apricots and ripe yellow apples. It’s an interplay between youth and maturity that is captivating because it appears to be cast from a single piece.

Palate

This “single piece,” this seemingly perfect balance of nobility and youthful impetuosity, of finesse and power, is absolutely captivating. Here you have the zest, the lemon seeds, the saltiness; there the candied fruit, the patisserie, and the hints of beeswax. Here the acidity seems as fresh as on the first day (although it was said to have been so harsh back then that even a seasoned Champagne winemaker’s gums rebelled after tasting the Vins Claires); there a creamy elegance emerges. Here, especially at the beginning, you have the typical attributes of a yellow-toned Chardonnay; there, especially as the wine warms up, you also get more and more Pinot character with red tones. All of this fits together on the palate like a puzzle and quickly forms a unified whole. With just one last sip in the glass, the champagne’s maturity finally reveals itself with subtle nuances of walnut, cinnamon, and a hint of the finest Fino. This cuvée has likely always been outstanding, but has only improved with age. It only saw the light of day when the Tarlants felt that everything was right and that the cuvée had the potential to become a legend.

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Keywords: Tarlant Cuvée Louis, Brut Nature Millésime 1996 Champagne France

Producer website: http://www.tarlant.com/