2007 Agrapart & Fils, Mineral Grand Cru Grand Cru Extra Brut
Critics reviews
David Schildknecht - 30/11/2013
About this WINE
Champagne Agrapart & Fils
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
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Description
As usual for this bottling, originating with two neighboring 40-year-old parcels in Avize near the communal line with Cramant, and vinified roughly half-each in tank and cask, Agraparts 2007 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Mineral is only coming onto the market this fall in France, and the bottle I tasted in June with a written-over 2006 label had been disgorged in January of this year solely for purposes of press tastings. Pleasantly piquant aromatic suggestions of sourdough yeasts, toasted buckwheat and lemon rind have their persistently stimulating counterpart on a strikingly delicate and nuanced palate, with stone, chalk, salt and smoke accenting fresh apple and winter pear. With time, a more caressing textural side emerged. The sense of salivary gland stimulation in the lingering finish is extremely active, and combined with tactile impingements of chalk, radish, lemon rind and active yeasts (figuratively speaking, of course). This is certainly less obviously multi-faceted and energetic than the corresponding Terroirs bottling, but utterly intriguing, impressively refined, and likely to merit at least a half dozen years of attention.
David Schildknecht - 30/11/2013
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