NV Agrapart Complantee Extra Brut
Buying options
Tasting notes
The NV Extra Brut Grand Cru Complantée, disgorged in August 2024 with a dosage of three grams per liter, derives from a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbanne and Petit Meslier, all planted (in 2003 and 2015) within the same three plots in Avize. The maturity of each grape variety is different; however, they are harvested on the same day. Based on the 2021 vintage with just 10% reserve wines from 2020, it’s a wine with a chiseled, rather austere personality, marked by the cool season and defined by its vegetal material. Unfurling from the glass with scents of elderflower, lychee, mint and lemon zest, it’s medium-bodied with screeching acidity, concluding with a long, precise finish. Right now, it expresses the grape varieties more strongly than the place, but Ambroise hopes that, as the vines grow older, “it will be easier to read the terroir.” Stylistically, it could not be more different from Avizoise.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The NV Extra Brut Complantée Grand Cru is terrific. It’s bright and persistent, with terrific balance. The blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbane, Petit Meslier and Chardonnay, all co-planted, works so well in adding what the vintage itself is missing. White pear, jasmine, crushed rocks, mint and sage all take shape in the glass. Airy and light on its feet, with terrific depth, the 2020 is superb. Dosage is 5 grams per liter. Disgorged: July 2024.
This has a pretty nose of white flowers, daffodils, blanched almonds, lemons, white grapefruit and salted peanuts. Bright and full of personality with very fine bubbles. Open and vibrant. Made from a field blend of 6 varieties, co-fermented in barriques. Chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meunier, arbanne, petit meslier and pinot blanc. 80% 2019 and 20% 2018. 5g/L dosage. 26 months on the lees. Disgorged May 2022. 4,000 bottles made. Drink now.
Agrapart's NV Extra Brut Grand Cru Complantee is the result of a small field blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier, planted in 2003 and for this release picked in 2011. The idea is that of Jean-Michel Deiss and many others, including Pascal and Fabrice Agrapart: Let the terroir dominate the wine instead of the grape character. Fermented entirely in demi-muids (malolactic included) and bottled unfiltered in May 2012, this lemon-yellow colored Champagne with its delicate pearl columns was disgorged after two years with a dosage of five grams. The slightly toasty and yeasty bouquet is fresh and intense, though still a little bit restrained or reductive at the moment, but with lime, rhubarb, sorrel, nuts and lemon flavors at this stage. Really fresh and piquant on the palate, with a prominent acidity cutting through the concentrated fruit of candied lemons and confit de citron, this firmly structured Champagne is more rustic and stringent on the finish than the other wines of the range. Still very young and very firm. Oct 2015, www.robertparker.com
About the producer
Undoubtedly one of the top growers in the Côte des Blancs, Agrapart has a unique traditional approach to producing Champagne, with the result being a loyal and fanatical following who adore this lean and precise style of wine.