TN: Pertois-Lebrun le Fond du Bateau 2012. Chouilly Grand Cru

All from Chouilly and very Chouilly. Hahaha, I have no idea what that means. It’s a nice champagne, can’t say I see any terroir. Kind of restrained, not fruit forward, in fact more structure than fruit. I need to try some more Chouilly. Then I’ll know. First time with this producer.

anybody know anything about this house?

Alan,

Good note. While I am sure some will disagree with me, in general, you described Chouilly pretty well. There are some very good wines from the village, but in general, it is a village that is a little thicker, less fruity, and less aromatic than the other Cote des Blancs Grand Crus. I often find it to be boring and the quality is quite variable throughout the village. The top spots tend to be those that border Cramant and are just below the Butte de Saran (where Moet’s Chateau de Saran is located).

Le Fond du Bateau is one of the top sites in Chouilly as is Pertois-Lebrun’s other Chouilly single vineyard wine Derriere le Mont Aigu. I personally prefer the Derriere le Mont Aigu in 2012 and find it to show more fruit . As for the producer, Pertois-Lebrun has really increased its quality over the last 10-15 years. They have vineyards spread across Chouilly, Cramant, Oger, Oiry, and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Cote des Blancs. The younger generation (two brothers) have taken it over and improved the farming and winemaking along with releasing some single vineyard wines. They have so far released single vineyard wines from le Fond du Bateau (Chouilly), Derriere le Mont Aigu (Chouilly), and Chetillons (Le Mesnil-sur-Oger). I wouldn’t put Pertois-Lebrun at the top of producers who produce from these vineyards or the Cote des Blancs, but they are very good, improving, and a producer who is on the rise and worth watching.

In general, if you look at the Grand Cru Cote des Blancs village, I find the following characteristics to come from each:

  • Chouilly - rather plain, rounder wines that are bright, but often lack in fruit and aromatics


  • Cramant - aromatic and fruity with orange, white peach, mineral and floral citrus characteristics


  • Avize - very powerful with a strong, deep, slightly darker, tart mineral core and a mix of citrus and apple notes


  • Oiry - if you mixed Avize, Cramant, and Chouilly and watered things down, you have an idea of Oiry, but it really depends on where you are at in Oiry since the vineyards of the village are a long North-South strip that borders Chouilly, Cramant, and Avize.


  • Oger - fruity, expressive, bright, round citrusy wines with a softer minerality


  • Le Mesnil-sur-Oger - tart, precise, lemon/lime driven wines that have an intense, bright minerality
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