Tasting Notes
Disgorged June 2022. Despite being one of the entry wines in the range, Terroirs is already a benchmark Blanc de Blancs. It is 100% Grand Cru with the fruit sourced only from great sites across four revered villages in the Côte des Blancs: Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry. Together with the terroir, vine age is a key factor in the quality on offer, with the average age being over 40 years.
This release is a blend of 2018 and 2017, with the reserve wine making up a significant 60% of the cuvée (another key to the quality). After a natural fermentation, half the wine matured in large-format, neutral oak and then spent 38 months on lees. Dosage was limited to five grams per litre and disgorgement was carried out by hand in July 2022. These winemaking standards, combined with organic viticulture, reach benchmarks that are far higher than any Grande Marque prestige cuvée we know of.
This release is a more tightly wound Terroirs, with vibrant citrus pith and crunchy nectarine as well as plenty of rock-salty goodness on the lingering close. It will certainly benefit from another year under cork, but as the notes make clear, it’s still wonderful now.
“The latest rendition of Agrapart's NV Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Terroirs is excellent. Based on the 2018 vintage, with fully 60% reserve wines from 2017 (some 40% of which mature in wood), it's medium to full-bodied, seamless and chiseled, evocative of citrus oil, buttered toast, mint and fresh bread. It derives from holdings in Avize, Oger, Cramant and Oiry.” 93 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate
“Creamy and flavorful, yet it remains precise and vertical, with an array of lemons, green apples, pie crust, almonds, hazelnuts and chalk. Medium-bodied with creamy, fine bubbles. Lots of energy, with zesty citrus notes at the end. Layered blanc de blancs.” 94 points, James Suckling, Jamessuckling.com
In the heart of the Côte des Blancs, in the village of Avize, Pascal Agrapart carefully tends his vines in one of the 70 (!) micro plots that he grows. His 10 or so hectares of vines are scattered mostly throughout Avize, but with small holdings in Cramant, Oiry and Oger as well - all classified Grand Cru.
Pascal is a proud grower-producer, relying on his own natural viticulture and grapes, rather than buying in fruit from elsewhere. In this way he controls every step of the process, choosing to farm organically with no pesticides or herbicides used, and the rows ploughed by horse. The grapes are, of course, all harvested by hand. His vines are some of the oldest in the Côte des Blancs with the majority over 40 years of age and naturally low-yielding.
Originally established in 1894 by Pascal's grandfather, the estate was managed by Pascal's father from the 1950s, until 1984 when Pascal himself took over. The wines have never been better, and Agrapart was recently awarded the coveted Trois Etoiles (three stars) by La Revue du Vin de France. To put this in perspective, there are only 9 Champagne houses that hold this honour, and Pascal is among the esteemed company of houses such as Selosse, Krug, and Egly-Ouriet.
The wines of Agrapart are typified by an intensity and precision that sets them apart from some of the houses making richer, fuller styles. Pascal picks earlier, uses larger, older wood and bottles earlier, resulting in wines that are less influenced by oxygen. In the winery, Pascal vinifies using natural yeasts, emphasising the truest expression of his terroir. Dosage, which is done with a traditional liqueur d'expédition of cane sugar, varies from wine to wine, although it is usually around 3 or 4 g/L, showcasing the exceptional precision and linear focus of his Champagnes.
| Product Type | Wine Sparkling Champagne |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | France |
| Region | Champagne |
| Sub Region | Avize |
| Winemaking Practices | Minimal Intervention |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |