2018 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Minéral Grand Cru
The news today is that we recently secured a small allocation of 2018 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Minéral Grand Cru. We also have 18 remaining bottles of the 2015 in stock to tie you over. Reviews are stellar and with a production of only 5400 cases, allocations are limited. You’ll want to grab this one quickly.
By now, Agrapart should be square and center on your radar as that grower Champagne house with a small cult following that burst into the limelight. They are now firmly established as a leader of the grower revolution and one of my favorite wines, beautifully balancing richness and freshness. The nose profile is characterized by white flower, citrus and green apple but there is underlying minerality and crushed stone component that gives the wine its spine… and its name!
STORY
The Champagne house of Agrapart et Fils is located in the celebrated Grand Cru village of Avize in the heart of the Côte de Blancs. The estate was established in 1894, but like many Grower Champagne Houses, they only started Estate bottling their wine just a few decades ago. Pascal Agrapart, and his brother Fabrice, are the 4th generation to run this esteemed Champagne House. Pascal runs most of the day to day operations. While certainly a "man of the earth" who enjoys spending time in the vineyards, Pascal is equally versed in the technical details of the cellar, allowing him to explore and master his craft. He maintains the same commitment to excellence that has earned this house its loyal customer base worldwide.
Agrapart wines have long had an underground following, but in recent years, Pascal has gained an international reputation and has learned to maneuver in the limelight. He is revered by the region's rising stars as sort of a professor emeritus, on the cutting edge of quality, setting the pace for Champagne's revolution.
Amboise Agrapart, Pascal's oldest son, recently joined his father at the domaine. Together they 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). To ensure the highest possible quality, production has always been kept at an artisanal level, with quantities of no more than 5,400 cases produced in any given year. 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 is farmed organically, but has never really publicized it. For Pascal, this is merely the right way to farm, not a marketing fad to promote his wines. From these fine, old Chardonnay vineyards, Pascal produces some of the most refined and complex wines to be found in the region.
You won’t want to miss this one!
The 2018 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Minéral Grand Cru is impressive, especially for the year. As always, the Minéral is a blend from the Champboutons and Bionnes lieux-dits in Avize and Cramant, respectively. Creamy and resonant, with exquisite balance, the 2018 has so much to offer. Expressive floral, earthy and savory undertones frame a core of Chardonnay fruit. Vinification and aging in oak further softens the contours. Time in the glass amplifies the wine's strong mineral accents. The 2018 is, quite simply, pristine. Dosage is 3 grams per liter. Disgorged: May 2024.
- Vinous /Galloni, 95
The 2018 Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Minéral, disgorged in August 2024 with three grams per liter dosage, introduces the range of vintage wines. Defined by poor soils with just about 50 centimeters of topsoil, it comes from two chalk-based, old-vine parcels: Le Champ Bouton in Avize (vinified in tank) and Les Bionnes in Cramant (vinified in an old 600-liter barrel). “In 2017, we lost about 50% to 60% due to frost, then in 2018 we harvested three times the volume of 2017,” reveals Ambroise Agrapart, who is now making the wines, though his father is still very much present. More generously structured compared to the 2016 yet more precise than the 2017, it wafts from the glass with notes of tangerine zest, green apple and dried white flowers. Nakedly chalky with electric-like acidity, it maintains its reputation as the most tensile wine in the range, capturing the freshness much better than many other wines of this vintage.
- Wine Advocate, 94+
The 2015 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Minéral Grand Cru is bracing, taut and wiry. Crushed rocks, mint, white pepper and lemon peel drive this blend. The Mineral is especially fine in 2015. There is a bit of youthful austerity, but nothing a few years in bottle can't take care of. The Minéral is one of the finer 2015s I have come across so far. Dosage is 3 grams per liter. Disgorged: May, 2021.
- Vinous/Galloni, 94
