Coteaux Champenois Blanc
Alba 2023

The Coteaux Champenois Blanc Alba by Agrapart is a white wine that tells the story of Champagne in its barest and most truthful form, the one in which chalk remains the only possible interpreter. This is the Côte des Blancs, the iconic Grand Cru of Avize, renowned for its mineral tension, where Fabrice works with an artisanal approach, massale selection, vines farmed without forcing and a care for the soil that borders on devotion. The name itself, with its echo of first light, suggests a wine conceived as a revelation rather than a demonstration, a Chardonnay left free to speak without the filter of a second fermentation.

This edition, 2023 harvest, comes entirely from the Lieu-dit Les Avats, where the Chardonnay vines reach down into chalk soils of remarkable purity. Vinification and fermentation proceed with indigenous yeasts alone, without corrections or prompting, while maturation continues for two years on its own fine lees in 228 litre oak barrels already well seasoned, chosen precisely for their aromatic neutrality. Bottling takes place without fining and without filtration, in keeping with a philosophy that regards every subtractive step as a loss of richness.

On tasting, Alba 2023 shows a luminous golden yellow and an aromatic profile weaving ripe citrus, yellow fleshed fruit, saline sea driven nuances and a barely perceptible touch of vanilla left by the wood. On the palate the entry is broad and enveloping, immediately crossed by a vertical acidity that orders the material and projects it in length, while the chalky component returns that tactile, almost powdery sensation which is the signature of Avize. Balance arises from the dialogue between a surprisingly dense structure and a tension that never retreats, closing on a very long, savoury and progressive finish that carries the citrus notes well beyond the last sip.