Alcohol: 12.5%
Grape(s): 100% Pinot Meunier
Localization: Champagne, France
Tasting Notes: Complex notes of ripe apples, with a hint of roasted nuts. Elegant minerality paired with crisp acidity and citrus notes. It's full-bodied with a rounded mousse and flavors of toasted almond croissant, fresh nectarine, and white strawberry. Refined and structured, with a clear, precise balance. It has a pillowy mousse and a bit of pithy bitter orange citrus on the long finish.
95 points Jeb Dunnuck: "A golden yellow hue, the Champagne Blanc De Meuniers La Vigne D’Or is ample and lush with aromas of toasted almond croissant, fresh nectarine, and white strawberry. Full-bodied, with a rounded mousse, it is fleshy and ripe through the palate and doesn’t feel as if it’s lacking for dosage. It has a pillowy mousse and a bit of pithy bitter orange citrus on the long finish. Juicy and ample, it’s very attractive now and will drink well over the coming ten or more years. Disgorged June 2022."
Notes: A blanc des noirs from a single parcel called "Pierre de Bellevue", planted in 1947 in Oeuilly by the Tarlants' paternal grandfather Georges on Sparnacian clay-limestone soils (a type specific to the Marne Valley). The fruit was hand-harvested and gently pressed; the juice was fermented with natural yeasts in Burgundy barrels. The wine was aged in barrel with no malolactic fermentation before bottling in May 2007. The bottles were aged sur lattes and disgorged in Jne 2022 with no dosage.
The Domain: In 1687, Pierre Tarlant began cultivating his first vineyards in Aisne. The family stayed put for almost 100 years before moving to the village of Oeuilly in 1780. At the turn of the 20th century, Louis Tarlant took over as head vigneron. His tenure would prove instrumental to shaping the family legacy, principally due to his involvement as mayor of Oeuilly in the rarely discussed Champagne Revolution.
By the early twentieth century, it had become increasingly common for the big Champagne houses, who even then had a strong-hold on commercialisation, to bring in fruit from all over France and even different countries (the farthest being Portugal!) to vinify and sell the wine as Champagne.
When this became common knowledge amongst growers in the region, many were infuriated that such practices could be happening right under their noses. Through rigorous organisation, many villages managed to block off the points of entry of outside fruit and skillfully organize themselves to codify the Champagne region. As a result, Louis helped achieve worldwide recognition of the AOC in 1911 and contributed to establishing the AOC Champagne region in 1927.
In the aftermath of these events, Louis swore never to sell a single grape to the big houses again, making Tarlant one of the first independent estates in the region (less than 10 existed at the time). Fast forward to today, and head vigneron Benoît Tarlant is the 12th generation working the land under his family name. Benoît is the real deal: his great understanding and respect of history, tradition and nature, coupled with his experimental, forward-thinking tendencies have been the driving force of some truly next-level, terroir-centric Champagnes. With his sister Mélanie joining the family business in 2003, things are more than ever a family affair.
