Tarlant Champagne Brut Nature Zero
Regular price $59.98
92 Wine Spectator - An opulent range of grilled nut, plumped white cherry, crystallized honey and mandarin orange peel flavors are reined-in and well-meshed with a spine of crackling acidity in this bold and distinctive Champagne. An iodine-laced overtone of oyster shell and brine imparts a minerality that carries through and lingers on the fine and creamy finish.
Zero is made from equal parts Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay that are sourced from multiple parcels in the Marne Valley. The “zero” in this wine's name indicates it has no dosage. About 90% of the Tarlant production is bottled without dosage, a very rare and distinct stylistic choice for the region.
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The Tarlant family traces their winegrowing history back to 1687, when Pierre Tarlant first cultivated grapevines in the Marne Valley. In 1928, Louis Adrien Tarlant produced the family’s first estate-bottled champagne, and since then there have been four successive generations of Tarlants producing wine at their estate in the village of Oeuilly. Today the estate is in the hands of Benoît and Melanie Tarlant (siblings) since 1999.
The estate consists of 14 hectares of vines within 31 lieu-dits of Pinot Noir(50%), Chardonnay (30%) and Pinot Meunier(20%), along with small amounts of Champagne's "forgotten"grapes" - Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier.
The big particularity of the Tarlant Champagnes, a tradition started by Benoît's father Jean-Mary in the late 1970's, is that the vast majority of the production (90%) is bottled without
dosage. While the idea of Brut Nature Champagne has slowly but surely gained momentum since the early 2000's, this was unheard of at the time. Still, Jean-Mary stuck to his guns and over time this has defined the Tarlant style. In such, the house's entry level cuvées are named "Zero".
There is also the story of the Champagne Revolution headed by great grandfather Tarlant. I'll be glad to share it with you over a glass of Tarlant....
