2013 Robert Moncuit Blanc de Blancs Vozémieux Grand Cru

The 2013 Champagne Grand Cru Les Vozemieux Extra Brut is from a single 0.67-hectare parcel in Oger and pours a medium golden hue. It is open and generous with its aromas and fresh and fruity with ripe apricot, pear, orange citrus, lemon, and yellow flowers. The palate is round and open as well, although it still has tension and a soft stony texture. It is round and has ripe fruit, with notes of honey that will continue to develop along with energetic salinity. It is certainly dry, but it is ripe, with only 3 grams per liter of dosage. It is drinking very well now and will drink well over the coming 15-20 years. Disgorged March 2019., it has 3 grams per liter dosage. Pierre Amillet exclusively works with Grand Cru Chardonnay from Mesnil sur Oger and Oger over nine hectares. Having taken over in 2000, he is the fourth generation of winegrowers in the Côte de Blancs since 1889. He presses and ferments each parcel separately, and stainless steel is used for debourbage and for reserve wines. After debourbage, the juice is gravity fed into barrique, and all the wines see full malolactic fermentation and rest on the lees in barrel for nine months. In Mesnil sur Oger, his key holdings are in Les Chetillon, since 2008, and in Oger, a single plot of the younger, north-facing site of Les Vozemeiux. For Les Chetillons and Les Vozemeiux, the bottles are aged under cork as they spend a longer period aging, while the other cuvées are aged under crown cap prior to disgorgement. Historically, he has used low levels of dosage; however, two years ago he made the decision to move to zero dosage added across the range.