Description
60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. From 40- to 50-year-old vines on certified organic premier cru plots, ‘cultivated with the principles of agroforestry’. Spontaneous fermentation in a mix of vat and small oak barrels. Natural malo. Aged in small oak casks and 600-litre casks for 10 months on the lees. Natural clarification, unfined, unfiltered. Five years sur lattes.
“Eric and Isabelle Coulon, seconded by their children Louise and Edgar, farm 11 hectares, divided into fully 120 parcels, in the northern Montagne de Reims, mostly in Vrigny and its environs, where Meunier growing in sandy soils dominates—some of it ungrafted, and all of it, in the Coulon’s case, derived from massal selections. Viticulture, certified organic since 2019, is progressive, with cover crops to control humidity and thus mitigate disease pressure (Meunier is susceptible to rot), and it follows agroforestry initiatives; and Eric Coulon, much like his brother-in-law Francis Egly, believes in picking late in pursuit of full physiological maturity. In the cellar, some cuvées see oak barrels (with 10% to 15% new wood), and the target is some 4.5 to five kilograms of pressure, as opposed to the more standard six. These are vinous, intensely flavored Champagnes of considerable character, lent a particular texture and grain by their emphasis on Meunier growing on sand, and I warmly encourage readers to try them”. William Kelley
“Another deep, sonorous nose. Edgy, but not for the sake of edgy. The depth to these Coulon wines is remarkable. Yes, it’s toast and layers and fruit and spice and minerals in abundance, but the flavours are almost secondary to the anima of the wine. This is a wine that slams into your whole body; one sip; feel the reverberations. These wines are all about the energy, the resonance, the sheer life force of life. Like copper wires pulsing with electricity. Like a cello solo in the Carnegie Hall. You feel it more than you drink it”. Drinking range: 2023 – 2032Rating: 18/20 Tamlyn Currin – www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2023)
