2013 Roger Coulon, Vrigny Blanc de Noirs Millesime

The 2013 Millesime is one the most engaging Champagnes I have tasted from Coulon in a long time, maybe ever. It's a blend of equal parts ungrafted Meunier and old-vine Pinot Noir. Rich and exuberant, the 2013 possesses tremendous richness from start to finish. Red plum, spice, crushed flowers, tangerine peel, hazelnut and chamomile are some of the notes that build into the huge, palate-staining finish. Dosage is 3 grams per liter. Disgorged: July 2022.

Disgorged in October 2021 with three grams per liter dosage, Coulon's 2013 Blanc de Noirs Millésime is a blend of ungrafted Pinot Meunier and old-vine Pinot Noir growing in sandy soils (which explains why the Meunier has been spared by phylloxera). Wafting from the glass with aromas of crisp golden orchard fruit, mirabelle plum, clear honey, freshly baked bread and buttery pasty, it's medium to full-bodied, pillowy and layered, with superb intensity without weight, racy acids and an attractive pinpoint mousse. Concluding with a long, intensely saline finish, this is a brilliant effort for this singularly underrated producer!

50% Pinot Noir, 50% Pinot Meunier. Dosage 3 g/l. Vines 30 to 51 years old. Spontaneous fermentation in vats and small old oak. Natural malo on lees. Natural clarification. Eight years sur lattes. Smells like carrot cake with lemon icing! Topped with toasted walnuts. Tinged with bitter marmalade. A wine that licks the top of your spine. Lime pickle, tamarind, mango chutney, toasted cumin, touch of rye, spelt in honey. Complex and powerful and dramatic and absolutely stunning. Long, insistent, holding and holding and holding … A Stradivarius would craft a better tasting note than any words I could cobble together. I'd cross the desert for these Coulon wines … (TC)