2016 Champagne Agrapart & Fils, Vénus, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Brut Nature

The 2016 Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs Vénus Grand Cru is beautifully lifted right out of the gate. Lemon confit, white flowers, marzipan and dried flowers all grace this soft, exquisite Champagne. The Vénus is all about understated precision. There's plenty of that to be found in the 2016. Moreover, the brut nature style works exceptionally well here. Vénus emerges from a tiny 0.3 hectare plot in Avize that has been worked by hand since it was planted in 1959. Disgorged: July, 2022.

Drink 2022 - 2030

Plenty of tension and minerality here, with white grapefruit, salted almonds, lightly bitter lemon pith, saltines and stones. Some oyster shells, too. Tight bubbles. Very precise, with lingering salinity. 100% chardonnay. 0g/L dosage. Disgorged May 2022. Drink or hold.

From old vines in lieu-dit La Fosse that are planted at somewhat lower density 1.2 meters apart) but where there are consequently very few missing vines or replants, Agrapart's striking 2016 Extra-Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Vénus unwinds in the glass with scents of citrus oil, crisp stone fruit, toasted almonds, warm biscuits, orange zest and iodine. Full-bodied, concentrated and tightly wound, with terrific depth at the core, racy acids and a long, intensely saline finish, it's another brilliant wine from this benchmark grower-bottler.

Every time I taste a mature bottle of Agrapart, I wonder if I've ever given this exceptional producer his due in these pages. Pascal, now aided by his son Ambroise, is one of the great artisanal winemakers of Champagne, with beautifully situated and thoughtfully farmed parcels, careful winemaking and a terrific track record for producing wines of structure, concentration and complexity. This new set of releases is especially brilliant, but that will come as no surprise to readers who have been following Agrapart over the decades, as perpetual improvement is part of this estate's DNA.

Drink 2025 - 2045