Agrapart 7 Crus Brut NV (2020 base. Disg June 2023)

2020 base vintage. Disgorged June 2023.

The Agrapart range begins with a non-vintage wine called 7 Crus. The name refers to the seven C?te des Blancs villages from which it derives: Avize (from younger vines aged 20 to 40 years), Cramant, Oger, Oiry, Avenay-Val-d?Or, Coligny and Vauciennes. Like all Agrapart wines, the fruit is 100% from Estate-owned and farmed vineyards. 

7 Crus is a blend of two different harvests: in this case 60% is 2018 from 1er Cru sites; and 40% is 2017 from Grand Cru sites (the reserve wine was raised in neutral, 600-litre oak cask). The breakdown is 90% Chardonnay and 10% Pinot Noir, from Avenay-Val-d?Or. Even at this first level, the wine is aged for almost three years on lees (34 months for this bottling). It was disgorged with six grams per litre dosage. This is the most immediately seductive cuv?e in the Agrapart range, yet it is still extremely fine. It?s deep and saline with fabulous, gentle grip. Sadly, we do not get nearly enough. The review below refers to a previous disgorgement.

?Based on the 2019 vintage and disgorged in April 2022, Agrapart's NV Brut 7 Crus wafts from the glass with scents of crisp green apple, freshly baked bread, white flowers and buttery pastry. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and enveloping, it's an ample, incisive wine, with racy acids and a saline finish. When the range begins like this, you know you're in the presence of one of Champagne's greatest producers.? 93 points, William Kelley, The Wine Advocate.