Champagne Extra-Brut, Rémi Leroy (37.5 cl)

Rémi Leroy, an oenologist and agricultural engineer who trained in Bordeaux in 2006, runs an estate of nearly 8 hectares with his father in Meurville, in the Côte des Bar. The clay-limestone soils come from the Upper Jurassic. Most of them are on Kimmeridgian slopes, which are also found in Chablis. But the particularity of the Meurville cru, apart from the generally low soil thickness, lies in the presence on the plateau overlooking the village of pure Portlandian (almost exclusive to Champagne) offering even poorer soils. In such conditions, the vine must naturally suffer to ensure its growth, and the viticulture he practises allows him to obtain fruit and juice of remarkable typicity. During all the viticultural work that punctuates the year, his objective is simple: a moderate harvest in terms of volume in order to obtain fruit that is at once ripe, healthy and concentrated. To achieve this, he strives to have a measured vigour and vegetative expression: reasonable contribution of organic matter, winter pruning by himself or with highly qualified workers, disbudding/shoot removal to aerate the foliage and modulate the yields, ploughing and controlled natural grassing to maintain his soils; and finally, extremely wise control of...