Champagne Pascal Agrapart Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru "Mineral" 2016

Alcohol: 12.5%

Grape(s): Chardonnay

Localization: Avize, Côte des Blancs, Marne, France

Tasting Notes: This is a summer wine with gorgeous white fruits and flowers on the nose, and a beautiful stony finish with an almond-y, citrus-y bitterness on the palate. Agrapart loves that light touch of bitterness on the finish.

Notes: This is a single vintage blend of téte de cuvée selections from two parcels located at the bottom of the hillside, planted in pure chalk; Les Champboutons in Avize and Les Bionnes in Cramant. These vineyards have 40+ year old vines and produce the most mineral-driven, laser-like wine of the Agrapart lineup.  

The Domain: Champagne Agrapart was founded in 1894 by Arthur Agrapart in the village of Avize in the Côte de Blancs region of Champagne. Since the beginning, Agrapart has estate-bottled all of their wines under their own label. Today, fourth-generation vigneron Pascal Agrapart runs this venerable estate, one of the most historic and important in the Côte de Blancs. Pascal's deep knowledge of both farming and winemaking have helped him become a leading figure in Champagne's grower-producer revolution. Pascal's son, Amboise, helps him manage nine and a half hectares of predominantly Chardonnay vineyards — the vast majority of which are Grand Cru — in the heart of the Côte de Blancs, primarily in the villages of Avize, Oger, Cramant and Oiry. Vine age is among the oldest in the Côte de Blancs, with many of the Agrapart’s vineyards in excess of seventy years of age, and the average overall age of the vines is a healthy forty years old. The estate has also farmed organically for years.