The 2017 Les Hauts Partas cuvée from Maison Roger Coulon is a Blanc de Blancs focused on the finesse and purity of Chardonnays from Chouilly, one of the jewels of the Côte des Blancs Grand Cru.
The label represents the winemaker's attachment to his land, his vines, and his wines. A place, a vintage, a grape variety, a type of planting—all these specific characteristics are transposed onto the label in a sketch drawn in Indian ink.
The grapes come from a single plot, "Les Hauts Partas" in Chouilly, a Grand Cru village in the Côte des Blancs. This locality is located halfway up the hillside at an altitude of 150 meters, on Campanian chalk that gives this cuvée all the purity of Chardonnay. The 45-year-old vines are the result of mass selection and benefit from a north-east exposure.
The 2017 vintage was characterized by a particularly warm winter and spring, followed by a gloomy, wet, and cool summer. The end of August was wet and hot. The harvest had to be carried out quickly, with careful selection.
The grapes were pressed very slowly, followed by a short settling period to preserve the substance and phenolic compounds. Alcoholic fermentation took place spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in small barrels at low temperatures.
The wine is aged in wood for 10 months and clarified naturally without fining or filtration. The bottles are aged for 7 years and the wine is not dosed to preserve its authenticity.
