NV Drappier Nature Zero Dosage

The regular cuvée to compare with the version aged underwater in the sea. 100% Pinot Noir grown on Kimmeridgian limestone by Drappier in the Côte des Bar. Zero dosage. Supposedly the disgorgement date should be engraved on the bottle but we couldn't find it. Lemony nose and small bubbles. It's also quite citrus on the palate and I have to confess that if I hadn't read it on the back label, I would not, at first, have guessed this was all-Pinot. But it's filling out on the palate. But, contrary to the sales pitch, it still tastes much more youthful than the undersea-aged Immersion version I was sent to compare it with! Still evolving. (JR)

Some finely spiced biscuit aromas with gently chalky white almonds and light berries. The palate has a fine, crisp and light delivery of some peach and light berry flavors. Drink now.

100% Pinot Noir, unfiltered, organic, on Jurassic Kimmeridgian chalk, low sulphites (15–25 mg/l). 100% from Urville. Aged three years under the sea in the Bay of St-Malo post disgorgment in June 2014. No dosage though there is probably 1–2 g/l 'unfermentable' sugar. A little more smoky than the cellar-aged wine. Mousse is firmer but less aggressive. This is really tight and direct too. Less difference from the cellar-aged bottle than in the Carte d'Or pair. Beautifully creamy on the palate, very smooth but the mousse is released more slowly, thinks Michel Drappier. More citrus here. Still very tight, very crisp, greaty purity and a more salty aftertaste. But it also seems more yeasty and complex. More tension, seemingly higher acidity. (JH)