Type: Sparkling

Vintage: 2019

Grape variety: Pinot Noir

Country: France

Appellation: Champagne

100% Pinot Noir. This vintage comes only from the village of Villers Allerand, more specifically from Montchenot (the village of Nicolas' mother). Montchenot is a unique junction village between the small and large mountain, and shares the geology of the two regions (sand, clay and chalk). It is vinified in barrels and aged for one year on the lees, and another three years in bottles.

On the 2018 vintage:
"The 2018 Extra Brut Montchenot is a pure Pinot Noir from the eponymous hamlet near Villers Allerand, vinified in oak. Cream suffused with lemon freshness meets much mellower Red Delicious apple flesh on the nose. The palate comes with a light-footed ease that seems cloud-like, expansive, yet anchored in salty soil. A slight but pleasant phenolic bitterness accentuates the saltiness even more and beds it on a mid-palate that combines deep chalk and salty, raw sourdough. The mousse is superfine. A lovely rendition of pure Pinot Noir. Zero dosage. Disgorged: August, 2022. Drinking window: 2023-2035."
95 pts, Anne Krebiehl MW, Antoni Galloni, November 2023