2008 Chartogne-Taillet Extra Brut Les Alliees

The 2008 Extra-Brut Cuvée Les Alliées (Pinot Meunier) is beautifully textured from start to finish. Dried pears, hazelnuts, wild flowers and mint all flesh out in a creamy, generous wine endowed with gorgeous depth and persistence. The 2008 stands out for its volume and rich, enveloping personality. Les Alliées marries the energy of the vintage with the richness of old-vine Meunier, a combination that is striking here. This is a fabulous showing from Alexandre Chartogne. The Alliées was done in neutral oak barrels. This bottle was disgorged in July 2013. Dosage was 3 grams/liter.

(100% pinot meunier that was raised in used barriques; aged on its lees for five years and disgorged July, 2013): Pale yellow. An intensely smoky, perfumed bouquet displays spice-accented scents of poached pear, buttered toast and an exotic cherry pit quality. Round and fleshy, offering deep but lively red berry and pear flavors and a bracing citrus zest nuance. Expands and deepens on the smoky finish, which shows excellent energy and length.

Representing a new cuvee from a relatively clay rich site planted entirely to Meunier, the Chartogne-Taillet 2008 Extra Brut Cuvee Les Alliees smells remarkable in its mingling of noble fungus, parsnip, and caraway. It seems almost as though we have here a blend of Pinot Gris, Sauvignon and Gewurztraminer! That trio, too, could have sufficed to account for the richly meaty, veal stock-like savor that emerges on the fine-grained palate to accompany the flavors already intimated in the nose. Elevage here incorporated barriques shed by Anne Gros, and there is a hint of barrel resin. But that oak influence in no way cuts down on the primary juiciness or the mouthwatering Merfy- and/or Chartogne-signature salinity in a sustained finish. This should prove highly versatile at table as well as fascinating to follow over the next 3-6 years. (Though of course, if there were to be a later disgorgement, that would be worth comparing and following in its own right. Note, incidentally, that this represents the second pure-Meunier wine from Chartogne-Taillet; their latest rendition of Les Barres is also reviewed in this report.) Under the direction of still-young Alexandre Chartogne, the wines of Chartogne-Taillet – long praised, yet in my view still under-rated – seem to be going from strength to strength, fueled by exemplary experimentalism and attention to detail, not to mention passion. Among the more conspicuous recent innovations at this cellar in out-of-the way Merfy (on the Massif de Saint-Thierry immediately northwest of Reims) is the use of concrete eggs for fermentation and aging, a shape and material designed to enhance lees contact via Brownian motion. The emergence here of single-cepage single-vineyard bottlings, reflects a trend among intrepid young Champagne vintners. And the aforementioned experimentalism naturally encompasses serious dosage trials, with results that consistently hit the “sweet spots” of expression (even if these are not literally in the least sweet). Terry Theise Estate Selections, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Inc., Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300