NV Benoit Lahaye Brut Nature

90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay from Bouzy grand cru. Base 2019. Dosage 0 g/l. Disgorged February 2023. Very clean, straightforward, appley nose. Orchards. Apple pie, cinnamon, but a little thin on the finish. Tight bubbles. Bit raspy. (TC)

Beno î t took over from his grower parents in 1993. Inside one year he had stopped using herbicide completely (almost unheard of in Champagne in 1994) and in 1996 began to make his own wine from the 4.8-ha (12-acre) estate, 88% planted to Pinot Noir. Organic by 2007 and Biodyvin biodynamic certified in 2010. There are 3 ha in Bouzy, 1 ha in Ambonnay next door and 60 ares in Tauxi è res, along with a small parcel of 20 ares in Voipreux on the south of the C ô tes des Blancs. 2 ha are worked by horse to reduce compaction and diesel fuel and he plans this for all the vineyards. All the vins clairs are barrel-fermented with spontaneous yeast and he works to reduce sulphur and makes his Violaine cuv é e with zero. Most of the production is exported. This is 90% Pinot Noir, 10% Chardonnay. From 30-year-old vines in Ambonnay and Bouzy. Base 2014. Barrel-fermented, with 30 months on lees in bottle and disgorged January 2018. Deep flavoured and apparently fairly long-aged on the nose though with massive vivacity on the palate. Still a bit aggressively youthful. Tastes minimally dosed. (JR)

Dosage 6 g/l. Persistent tiny bead. Really quite a complex nose. Big and bold. Bumptious. Pretty good for the money. And no hurry to drink this. (JR)