2017 Chartogne-Taillet Les Couarres
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Tasting notes
A standout in a challenging vintage, Chartogne’s 2017 Les Couarres, disgorged in 2021 with a dosage of 3.5 grams per liter, is showing remarkably well. The wine’s quality is anchored in rigorous selection during harvest, and it unfurls from the glass with a perfumed bouquet of pear, dried apricot, toasted hazelnuts and warm spices. Medium to full-bodied, enveloping and precise, it boasts an extroverted personality coupled with impressive depth and structure. Now stepping into full maturity, it is drinking at peak expression. As readers may know, this cuvée hails from a single vineyard in Merfy, planted on sandy and clay-rich soils over a limestone bedrock, and is composed of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in nearly equal measure.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Champagne Les Couarres Extra Brut is 60% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Noir that was aged for 36 months on the lees and raised in barrels ranging from 228 to 600 liters. It is the most pronounced in the range in terms of its reduction and matchstick, which I personally find enjoyable. It adds a dark mineral character, with apricot, flowers, and salinity, and the palate is generous up front with taut underpinnings. This is a well-detailed wine that I think will have fantastic longevity and appeal. Drink 2024-2044.
Chartogne's 2017 Extra-Brut Couarres (60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir) is a dense, potent Champagne. Apricot, chamomile, spice and lightly honeyed notes infuse the 2017 with striking layers of complexity. This broad, ample Champagne offers tons of character. Here, too, there is a bit of reduction, but not enough to be overly intrusive. Dosage is 4-5 grams per liter. Disgorged: November, 2021.