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In the last part of our Champagne Weeks Today we talk about our Top winery from Champagne - Tarlant.


Champagne Tarlant

Benoit and Melanie Tarlant at the Table
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The family winery Tarlant is currently run by siblings Benoît and Melanie. However, the tradition goes back to over twelve generations back. The Oeuilly site is located in the Vallée de la MarneThis is the absolute land of the Black Riesling. But it is not Pinot Meunier but Pinot Noir and a little Chardonnay that the Tarlants are fond of.

They also cultivate small quantities of Arbanne, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau, as well as Pinot Meunier, which is common in the valley. As a member of the Terres et Vins association, the focus of production is on Champagne of origin and character.

55 vineyard plots

These grape varieties grow naturally and organically on a total of 55 plots. Each plot is harvested individually and vinified separately. About half of the base wines are aged in wooden barrels. The barrique barrels come from Burgundy and are regularly exchanged for new barrels. None of the base wines undergo malolactic fermentation. The aim is to offer the powerful style from the wooden barrel a concise acidity as a counterpart.
Geese in the Tarlant vineyard

Alchemy in the champagne cellar

After the maturation of the base wines, the most exciting part follows in the cellar: the cuvée. Similar to a great chef or perfumer, one follows recipes, but ideas keep the soul of the source material in mind. On the one hand, the aim is to enhance the taste of a certain wine, e.g. Brut Traditionyear after year. Or, on the other hand, to work out and implement an interpretation of the vintage, its characteristics and peculiarities in the case of the site wines.

No dogma

The large number of plots and the resulting base wines enable Benoît to develop or implement this recipe in the cellar. The sparkling wines from Tarlant are bottled with little dosage for the second fermentation. Depending on the wine, between 0 - 8 g are used, so that the wines are described as Brut Nature, Extra Brut or Brut. Particularly worthy of mention here is the straightforward Tarlant Zero Brut Nature and the Top Cuvée Louis from 70-year-old vineyards.
Tarlant Zero

Extra long yeast storage

After the second fermentation in the bottle, the wines experience a very long yeast storage in the cellar. The number of bottles in the cellar is considerable. Top wines like the Vigne d'Antan from single-root Chardonnay vines of very great age or the Cuvée Louis are aged on their lees for well over ten years. The intensity and expressiveness is simply phenomenal. Also to be emphasised would be the Cuvée BAM! from the rare grape varieties Meslier, Arbanne and Pinot Blanc.
BAM! 2010 + Réserve Perpetuelle Brut Nature 2010
Photos: Champagne Tarlant
Text: Marian Henß


Thank you very much & best regards,

Dimitri Taits
livingwines.com
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