The Champagne Guillaume Sergent Chemin Chappees B.O. Vendange 2016 is a true beauty. This Champagne is crafted with an equal blend of 50% Pinot Meunier and 50% Pinot Noir, presented as Extra Brut. Tirage was on January 17, 2017 and on July 28, 2023, it underwent disgorgement. Only 178 bottles of this champagne were produced, with a dosage of og/l (grams per liter).
Champagne expert Gerhard Eichelmann criticized many young producers in his latest Champagne book for not aging their Champagnes on the lees for a longer period. Some time ago, customers and sellers suggested Sergent held back some bottles, and the difference between the briefly lees-aged Chemins and the first edition of the Chemin des Chappées BO is astonishing.
Winemaker Guillaume Sergent has already demonstrated his expertise and potential to make great champanges with his brilliant Pataphysique. However, now, with the new Chemin Chappees B.O. Vendange 2016, we see how something as simple as lees aging can elevate a good Champagne into an entirely different realm.
This Champagne boasts a rich golden colour. Already, on the nose, it is dominated by notes of apples and a hint of lanolin, predominantly from the Meunier grapes. On the palate, the Champagne is powerful and currently holds great potential. Hints of aromatics such as spices, limes, and red fruits can be detected, but it will take a few more years for the Champagne to fully reveal its splendor. 95 points
Continuing to open the bottles I normally reach over. 1509 bottles, no dosage. Very fine elegant mousse, confit lemon and honied brioche, no sharp edges, very fine.
agree. Loved it more, though, when Jesse Rodriguez was the somm. He’d let me bring wines with no corkage fees and buy off the list to take home, would blind me on wines, super guy. As is Will Costello, who also worked there as a somm.
Domaine La Borderie Douce Folie Rosé Extra Brut 2017 (deg. 10/22).
100% Pinot Noir from a single vineyard in Merrey-sur-Arce with 50 years old vines. 48h maceration, dosage 4g/l. 4000 bottles made.
Beautiful, intense nose with cranberries, lingonberries and even some slightly unripe raspberries. Somewhat lean on the palate, bold in structure. Certainly more of a food champagne than one to be enjoyed on its own. Great stuff!
Le Brun Servenay Grand Cru BdB Extra Brut 2011, 9 years on the lees. Lovely honeyed nose and lemon and grilled peaches on the palate. Really well balanced.
The only thing giving me pause about foreclosing all other wine for Champagne is bottle variation. I have no idea why I experience exponentially more bottle variation here than in any other AOC I have explored, at least in youth, but the difference is striking. Much like the Blanc I drank last weekend, this shows younger than my previous bottles, without the depth and weight. It is a tad disjointed - the sugar and complexities not completely integrated - but the fundamental character of the wine is in tact. At the comically low price I paid, I can’t lament my sole frustration too much. This is still a refined, complex wine, which drinks like a smoky and crushable red burgundy. What it gave up in depth, it made up for in energy. Not its highest self, though I am certainly not kicking it out of bed for eating crackers.
Best I can figure is this is 2012 disgorgement. It has L 12 11 stamped on the label? Cellared for around 8 years - Still very fresh but in a good place. - really a great bottle especially for the relatively cheap price.
Romain Henin Le Gamin de Terroir
60:40 Chard:Meunier, March 22 disgorgement, 2520 bottles.
Nose is very Meunier driven, rich, vinous, quite serious, big, oak, chalky acid finish.
I am well, thank you.
Lemon curd and all that good stuff. It’s tough for me to write notes on Champagne…I just like to enjoy it.
But for the uninitiated, this is a top shelf wine. If you can find it at a good price, well worth it.
I hope you don’t pay the Wine Searcher prices…
Can’t afford these anymore (although I still have 3 Selosse left…from a few years ago)
Happy new Year Russell!
