The Luxury Almanac
Champagne Season : Leclerc Briant ABYSS 2016
Leclerc Briant, this beautiful Champagne estate has been located in Epernay since 1872. In 2012, American passionate couple Mark Nunnelly and Denise Dupré acquired the property and transformed it into a real gem. The vineyards are farmed biodynamically, additional purchases are made from biodynamic winegrowers. They produce excellent bruts millésimés, bruts sans années and extra-bruts rosés.
Favorite of the month
The deep, racy "Abyss 2016" cuvée. This vintage has a radiance and purity that shine through its sincerity. The cuvée "Abyss Rosé 2018" is also exceptional with 85% Chardonnay.
Tasting and Sommelier's Opinion
To the eye, this champagne has a luminous, golden color with pale yellow highlights.
To the nose, it reveals intense, solar notes, followed by fruity and spicy aromas. Freshness is always present.
On the palate, the wine has a clean attack, followed by a fruity, lemony mid-palate. Minerality stands out on the mid-palate. The finish is deliciously iodized, leaving a savory saline imprint on a palate conquered by the marine and underwater experience.
The tasting reveals ideal conditions for the development and revelation of a sandy, chalky mineral signature respectful of Champagne terroirs.
Grape varieties
Cellar master Hervé Jestin has selected chardonnays (33%) from the Bisseuil terroir, pinots noirs (34%) from Avenay-Val-d'Or and pinots meuniers (33%) from Vrigny. Each grape variety is equally represented.
Terroir
On the Bisseuil plots near Epernay, south of the Montagne de Reims, where the great Champagne whites are produced. These terroirs are renowned for their limestone subsoil. For Pinots in the communes of Avenay-Val-d'Or (south-east of the Reims mountains) and Vrigny (north-west of the Reims mountains).
Vinification
Initial aging in vats with malolactic fermentation, raw dosage: Zero dosage.
Bottled in July 2017, disgorged in July 2020, immersed in August 2020.
Cuvée Abyss is one of Champagne's most original cuvées. Immersed for 1 year in the seabed off the eastern coast of the Île d'Ouessant (Baie du Stiff), Cuvée Abyss is an adventure. Leclerc Briant came up with the idea of immersing a cuvée specially developed for this purpose, following the discovery in the Baltic Sea of a cargo of champagne that had spent more than 170 years underwater. Working in partnership with Amphoris, a company specializing in underwater exploitation, the house and its cellar master imagined a bespoke cuvée.
Cuvée Abyss 2016 was submerged in August 2020, to be brought to the surface in August 2021.
Aging period: 12 years (2028)
Food and wine pairing
Serving temperature: 10 to 12°c
This "Abyss" cuvée goes wonderfully well with iodized dishes such as oysters, raw salmon, sesame tuna tataki or roasted Saint-Pierre. I like the champagne to accompany an entire meal.
Summer Wine: Chateau Minuty Rose et Or 2022
Image courtesy of Minuty
Château Minuty is located between sea and earth in the heart of Provence. Part of LMVH portfolio since last spring, the family property has been owned by the Matton-Farnet family, for four generations, for 85 years, since 1955. Chateau Minuty is part of “Crus Classés des côtes de Provence”.
The vineyard is remarkabily exposed on the slopes of the villages of Gassin and Ramatuelle overlooking the Gulf of St Tropez. Chateau Minuty benefits from a temperate climate and highlights a southern wine variety. Chateau minuty includes red, white and rosé wines.
Our choice: Minuty cuvée “Rose et Or”. The cuvée Rose et Or was born in 2009 and represents the elegance and delicacy of the rosé wines of Provence. The three big terroirs of the Domain have been genuinely blended to incarnate the Minuty signature. Today, Minuty is definitely a sure value and a guarantee of quality for the Côtes de Provence appellation in St Tropez.
Tasting & Sommelier's Opinion
This rosé looks very pure, pale pink with its crystalline effects. The nose is very intense and sunny, expressing ripe fruit aromas of vine peach, pear and pink melon.
On the palate, this wine is complex, with great freshness and finesse, full-bodied, spherical and fruity. Traces of young peaches and a hint of saltiness call the taster back to the glass. This young rosé seduces with its remarkable persistence.
A great bottle for summer and winter, to accompany an entire meal.
This highly expressive, mouth-watering rosé is a veritable concentrate of Grenache. The careful preservation of the grapes is a real factor of freshness and aromatic clarity. This wine is never coarse or austere, but round and supple.
Variety of Wine
White grenache 90%, Cinsault and Mourvèdre 10%, sometimes Tibouren.
Terroir
The three big terroirs of the domain: Gassin, where the chateau is located, with its crystal clear shales. Vidauban, the historical site with its deep red clay soils and Ramatuelle on the sand and its sea view for the lightness.
Vinification
The grapes are 100% from the property, manually harvested. Certification in HVE (Environmental high Value) over all the property since 2019. 160 hectares.
The grapes are hand-picked at the right stage of ripeness, 100% free-run juice selected. These free-run juices are collected by gravity in stainless steel tanks, then subjected to meticulous settling and alcoholic fermentation with drastic temperature control. No malolactic, like with all Minuty rosés.
Alcoholic strength: 12,5%
Maturation time: 3 years
Wine pairing
Serve at 8°/10°c in summer and 12°c in other seasons.
Excellent as an aperitif, it goes very well with Provençal specialties such as grilled fish, stuffed fish or the inevitable bouillabaisse! It also goes well with fish tartar, sushi, grilled Madagascar shrimp, spicy Indian or Asian dishes (pad thai). With fresh, young hard cheeses (Emmental, Comté, Beaufort, Gouda, Cheddar...) And for dessert, a wonderful match with strawberry salad with basil or exotic fruit sorbets.
Image courtesy of Minuty