AOC Champagne 'Seconde Nature' (SN18)
Regular price
$165
750ml
Sale
45% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier. All from the 2018 harvest (selection of the first juices only), all Premier Cru fruit from Chamery. There are 3 lieu-dits that face south-east: Les Vigneules, Les Spectres and Les Caquerets. The soils are of calcareous clay studded with limestone pebbles. The subsoils are of sand with a high percentage of tiny fossils. The grapes are pressed, and fermentation occurs naturally. The wine spent 9 months on lees in used 228L and 400L barrels, and malolactic occurs. The wine is then bottled without fining or filtration, and without sulfites. Disgorged in September 2021, without any dosage. 12% alc.
While these Champagnes can usually be quite tight and restrained, the SN18 is a bit more fleshy, and shows the year nicely without being too flamboyant. Sweet fruit and white florals, with that typical saline edge. Yellow and green apple flesh, salts and seashells. The palate displays the same – slightly more luxurious in the mouth than usual, rather than super dry and crisp. Yellow orchard fruits, specks of honey, and flicks of saltiness parade around the tongue. Opens up beautifully in the glass. More broad across the palate than previous years, and seems very approachable at a young age. The bubbles are fine and flow with ease. No oxidation, just very clean and tasty. The wine is more relaxed, rather than racy. Lemons, apples, and seashell tendencies. Gentle bubbles dance across the tongue. Medium plus acidity. This is a great food wine – it’s so approachable, and not challenging. Some roasted almonds on the nose. Foamy bubbles. There is no need for dosage here, as the wine is perfectly balanced. The transparency and harmony here between fruit, minerality and acidity is impeccable.
