A vineyard in a bottle: Pascal Agrapart Complantée

The Agrapart family has owned magnificent Grand Cru Chardonnay vineyards in Cotes des Blancs since 1894 which were expanded in the 1950s by Pierre, the son of founder Agrapart. The name of this small Maison in Avize was recently changed from Agrapart & Fils to Pascal Agrapart because for more almost 30 years the founder’s energetic grandson Pascal has perfected the most respectful ways to preserve this treasure situated between Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. For him the value of the terroir is the be-all and end-all of Champagne production, a way of being a vigneron more than and a récoltant manipulant because the essence of the cuvée is defined by the soil, the personality of the lieu dits, the 62 parcels into which the vineyards are divided with all their precise characteristics and identifying traits.

One of these, La Fosse in the village of Avize, is particularly unique. Aside from the typical Champagne varieties of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pint Meunier, here they also cultivate Arbanne, Pinot Blanc and Petit Meslier. And it is this vineyard that produces Cuvée Complantée, a Champagne for which the blending takes place in the vineyard and not the winery. This because all the grapes, both white and red, are harvested together, pressed together using a vertical Coquard press and fermented together exclusively using indigenous yeasts. After malolactic fermentation, the wine ages in 600-liter oak barrels before being bottled without filtering to then sit on the lees for at least four years.

The practice of fermenting the grapes all together is an old one and produces a rustic Champagne with a decidedly original flavor, while at the same time maintaining the finesse and minerality derived from the Avize soil. The mark of the Agrapart style, adding an extra-brut dosage, is the cherry on top of the cake that exalts the flavor and the precision of the fresh tension in the mouthfeel, demonstrating once again how great care can bring a terroir and its grapes into a bottle.

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