nv Pierre Baillette “Le Village” Premier Cru, Trois Puits, Brut Champagne, France.
The grower producer Champagne by Pierre Baillette is all new to me and this bubbly, made by Pérrine (Baillette) Chartogne, who follows the same farming methods as her husband Alexandre, at the famous Champagne Chartogne-Taillet, Le Village Brut was a brilliant and vibrant way to start the day and was a great introduction her wines, it is on the drier spectrum of Brut, almost Extra Brut in style with great tension and mineral tones, similar to some of my favorites by Agrapart and de Sousa. The palate feels electric with lean lemon, green apple, quince and Asian pear fruits, plus notes white flowers, bread dough and with a very lively mousse and a steely frame. This Premier Cru is a traditional cuvée made with a core of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and some Meunier that come from Baillette’s own vines in Rilly la Montagne and Trois-Puis, along with Chardonnay from the Verzenay Grand Cru region. The Le Village is blend of the mentioned crus from the south of the Montagne de Reims, where the soils are classically chalky, which is clearly on display in this fine effort.
Périne Baillette, now Chartogne, and who is the daughter of Pierre Baillette, is now the owner and winemaker of the family Champagne house based in Trois-Puits, and certainly there will be a coming out party and a greater awareness of her talents sooner verses later, if the full collection of sparkling wines are as good as this one. Périne, I understand is led by passion to keep things natural and strives to make terroir driven grower fizz, she uses only natural or indigenous yeasts on her grapes that are holistically farmed. She is seeking to craft as pure a Champagne as possible, so the addition of dosage is very low in sugar, with this one at about 4.5 grams per liter, and the base wines see between 3 to 6 years of lees aging. This most recent disgorgement comes mainly from the 2018 vintage and the base was close to 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay and 20% Meunier in make up, with close to 20% of reserve wines, to add complexity here. This is a label to watch for enthusiasts of these racy ultra dry Champagnes, with a soulful and authentic personality and are sparklers that go great with Sushi and or fresh raw oysters.
($55 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive