M.A.M. Monts Âme-Migerats Premier Cru Extra Brut 2015

This champagne is a single-varietal Blanc de Noirs from Pinot Noir. The vines come from 55-year-old Sélection Massales in the Mont Âme parcel with chalky soils and Migerats with loose clay soils in the Cru Les Mesneux in Ecueil, Montage de Reims. The base wine was aged in 300-litre barrels after pressing and spontaneous fermentation. Nothing was stabilised or filtered or fined. The wine was bottled and aged for five years sur lattes matured and disgorged on 13.4.21. It has 1 gram of dosage. There are 1,742 bottles and 30 magnums.

Intense straw yellow with light copper reflections and a relaxed mousseux.

The M.A.M. 2015 is an open, elegant and complex champagne from the start, bringing just the right balance of citrus fruit from ripe grapefruits and citrus as well as red berries and chalkiness. Its bouquet is also reminiscent of creamy nougat on very lightly warmed brioche. This is more than appetising, and it all seems finely interwoven and exudes nobility.

This noble character is also evident on the palate, where the fruit appears ripe and juicy and brings a fine extract sweetness to the champagne, so that it requires no more than 1 gram of dosage. The fruit is sensual, reminiscent of ripe pome fruit as well as stone fruit, oranges and lemon sorbet. Again, there is the hint of nougat and the sweet yeast dough, a red Pinot aspect of raspberries and red nectarines. There is also a hint of chalkiness and lime, which is not scratchy, however, but is integrated into a creamy texture. The champagne seems complex and straightforward on the palate, again very balanced and so inviting that the bottle is emptied faster than expected.