NV Francoise Bedel Entre Ciel et Terre

Exhibit A in the case for Bedel and her obscure terroir must be a NV Brut Entre Ciel et Terre EB041012, which places Meunier in something more like its usual supporting role, letting Chardonnay and Pinot step forward. Jasmine, green tea, lime, grapefruit, and white currant inform a brightly penetrating yet subtly perfumed nose, whose elements are joined on a palpably lees-enriched yet vivacious and consummately refreshing palate by nut oils, smoky toasted grain and saliva-liberating salinity. A subtle sense of textural oiliness reinforces the nut and citrus oil aspects but without deflecting any of this wine’s effusive juiciness or dimming the invigorating tang incorporated in a mouthwateringly long finish tinged with iodine. I suspect this will merit following for at least another 4-5 years. (This wine’s lot number, incidentally, can be decoded as follows: Entre Ciel ...; Brut; 2004-based; disgorged 10/2012. Would that Champagne growers more often follow such a logical pattern of lot-designation!) Francoise Bedel’s achievements represent one more among numerous recent demonstrations that long- or even perpetually neglected sectors of Champagne – in her case, the Marne Valley’s Meunier-rich western fringe – can set off vinous fireworks. Bedel has been farming entirely biodynamically for fifteen years, and has become quite well-known for her advocacy of that regimen. An inexpensive entry-level cuvee is absent from her portfolio; but then, she not only works in an extremely meticulous and labor-intensive way, she also releases no wine sooner than five years after its harvest. Importer: Jon-David Headrick Selections, Asheville, NC; tel. (828) 252-8245