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100% Pinot Noir (planted in 1970). Disgorged late 1/10. Sur latte 36+ months.
Winemaking Team Notes: "The traces of the wine growers in our family go back to 1490, with Nicolas Taillet, and Fiacre Taillet in 1540.
Terroir: Well-balanced soil, porosity adequate but not excessive. Thanetian sands containing layers of limestone on Campanian chalk. The depth of the Thanetian sands reaches 2 metres in some places.
This vineyard with deep soil requires many years to transfer the interesting salts from the subsoil to the grapes. When young, or when the roots remain on the surface, wine from this vineyard does not balance its saltiness with the organic fraction and fruit. The grape variety can then take over, without adding complexity.
We have to wait more than fifteen years for this vine stock to reveal the particular nature of this soil. We work this vineyard with an eye to the conservation of these plants, in the hope that they will continue to supply us with these grapes for the next 60 years.
Fermentation: Wines from Les Orizeaux quickly go into natural fermentation. The availability of mineral elements in this vineyard seems to favour rapid and stable fermentations. This wine rapidly triggers malolactic fermentation, no matter the temperature in the cellar or the level of pH. It is not advisable to block the malos for this Champagne, except perhaps in a year when the malolactic fermentation is slow to start, but this has not happened in the 10 short years that I've been vinifying this Champagne.
Ageing: Each year, Les Orizeaux is aged in old oak casks of Burgundian origin, with 2 to 9 wines.
Texture: The wine grower can approach wine from Les Orizeaux in multiple ways. Aged in tanks without air contact, it retains a supple texture, slightly rich in the mid-palate. Aged in casks, this wine opens up by balancing its chewiness as soon as the saltiness appears during maturation. This rich texture develops to provide a salty balance, which is not typical in our village."
