Marie-CourtinPolisot, Côte des Bar

Producer profile
PL mentions Marie-Courtin alongside growers like Tarlant, Larmandier-Bernier, and Jérôme Prévost as taking part in the movement towards single-vineyard and single-terroir champagnes. Dominique Moreau started making champagne at her estate in Polisot in 2006 from a single 2.5-hectare parcel of vines. "Vivid, trenchant, sometimes even austere, these wines feel uncompromising in their terroir expression." "While many wines in the Côte des Bar thrive on an exuberant depth of fruit, Moreau's champagnes encase this ripeness within a racy, streamlined structure, emphasizing an intense mineral expression. They can be austere in their youth, yet they blossom with post-disgorgement age, and they are capable of a lovely sophistication and finesse." Resonance is a pinot noir vinified in tank, while Efflorescence is a vintage-dated pinot noir champagne aged in oak barrels." Concordance is made without added sulfur and it's a complex, concentrated pinot noir champagne that "remains fresh even several years after disgorgement." Indulgence is a rosé "made with an unusually long maceration of pinot noir, producing a deep, intensely fragrant champagne." Eloquence is "the most expressive of all", a blanc de blancs that is "rigid and taut" with a "fierce backbone of minerality", "multifaceted and complete, it's one of the most exciting champagnes being made in the Aube today." Organically certified. TyS no mention. ToS 84 the estate is named after Dominique's great-grandmother. "Serious, powerful, opulent wines." This producer does not have a website.

Tasting notes

Présence 2015. 70% chardonnay and 30% pinot blanc. Disgorged September 2018. Extra brut. This is a sans soufre cuvée. Pretty and restrained label with textured paper and domain name printed en gravure. Sticky, resistant cork. Opened with a small overspill. The cork is oddly shaped, with a flat side like a deflated tire, but doesn't have other apparent flaws. The wine has a strong smell: wild, rustic, atypical. Vigorous persistent mousse shows snowy-white against the clear vivid yellow of the wine. The flavor plus the carbonation carry an unexpected capsicum effect: the wine tastes pepper-spicy. The finish is sudden and truncated. Straight out of the bottle this wine tastes incorrect and ends abruptly. After an hour the wine starts to relax and transform but the smell stays strong. It's not outright bad, just inelegant and unexpected. Pickled eggs come to mind. Better the next day! The peculiar smell is replaced by a pleasant, if a little forward, nuance of peach liquor and dried unsulfured yellow peaches. I will not seek this out. Purchased at Applejack in autumn 2020 for $76.