The wines
of Champagne
Tarlant
Champagne
Tarlant, 51480 Oeuilly/Epernay, France
Tel: +33 3 26 58 30 60
Fax: +33 3 26 58 37 31
Website: www.tarlant.com E-mail:
champagne@tarlant.com
Tarlant
as a family can trace their winegrowing lineage back to 1687. Wow!
Winemaking is currently in the hands of 12th generation Benoit Tarlant
(pictured), an articulate proponent of his family’s style of fizz.
This
domaine is quality focused, and has 13 hectares of vineyards spread
among 4 crus, with all six permitted varieties planted (Pinot Noir,
Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Arbanne, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier). As is
increasingly common in the Champagne region, they’ve taken a viticulture
raisonée approach: they use organic fertilizers, concentrate on
encouraging populations of beneficial insects, and use pheromones to
create sexual confusion among pest species. ‘Our treatment of the
land is designed give long term and sustainable biodiversity and to
protect the micro-organisms which live in it’, they say on their
website, which incidentally is a very good one with an excellent
video-based blog.
Tarlant
are well known for their non-dosage wines, which make up a remarkable
60% of their production. For those unfamiliar with the term dosage, this is the sweet liquid (liqueur d’expedition, typically
a wine sweetened with grape juice) added at the end of the Champagne
production process to balance the wine out. Typically a Champagne
labelled ‘brut’, which is most of them, will have around 9 grams
of sugar per litre added in this way: it doesn’t make the wine taste
sweet, but merely balances the high acidity that would otherwise stick
out. Some Champagne makers have tried using little or no dosage: to do
this, the wine must already be quite well balanced, and the result is
called Brut Zero, or Zero Dosage, or Ultra Brut, or another similar
term. Such wines are still quite rare in Champagne and there is some
discussion about whether they work or not.
To
make a non-dosage fizz, the base wine has to have acidity that is
already balanced. Benoit recalls that he thought it would be easier to
make a non-dosage wine in the warm 2003 vintage, but that in fact 2004
was much more expressive without dosage: while it was easy to actually
make the wine in 2003, 2004 had better expression.
Tarlant
are also a little unusual in Champagne in that they make use of
barrels for elevage: this used to be common, but increasingly more
controllable stainless steel is used. ‘Barrels help give a different
texture to the wine’, maintains Tarlant. ‘They open the door to
the taste’. He uses both Burgundy barrels of 228 litres and also
traditional Champagne barrels of 205 litres. There’s an upsurge of
interest in using barrels for Champagne: one barrel maker has begun
working again in Champagne.
Of
the Brut 1996, Benoit says that this is a wine that gives him a lot of
questions. ‘I’m selling 1997 first in France’, he reveals. Of
the 1996, ‘the nose is pleasant, but some days the palate is too
shy, other days it opens and begins to give itself. Now I wonder which
will be released first: the 1996 or 1998’. He thinks most of the
1996 will be drunk too early because the nose is more mature than the
palate. ‘Potentially 1996 has everything’.
Tarlant
Brut Réserve NV
Mostly from 2004, and one third of each of the main varieties,
with 6 g/l dosage. Tightly focused palate is really fresh with a herby
edge. A nice, complex wine. Disgorged in September 2006. Very
good/excellent 90/100
Tarlant Brut 1996
65% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, 6 g/l dosage. Lovely focused nose: honey
and lemon notes with toasty richness. The palate is concentrated and
full with lovely complex lemony fruit and good acidity. Mouthfilling
and complex. Very good/excellent 93/100
Tarlant Cuvée Louis Brut NV
From a single vineyard, this is a 50/50 blend of Chardonnay and
Pinot Noir, with 80% of 1997 and 20% of 1998 wines. 5.7 g/l dosage,
fermented in barrel. This is from a site closer to the river, which
gives a smoother attitude. Focused lemony, honeyed nose is quite rich.
The palate is broad and full with lovely structure to the fruit. Rich
and complex with good presence and a fresh finish. Very good/excellent
92/100
Wines tasted 03/07
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