Champagne Brut Nature
Trilogie KM-3

The Champagne Trilogie by Clandestin is an exercise in style signed by Benoît Doussot, a vigneron with Burgundian training transplanted to the Côte des Bar, where he set out to tell the terroir like never before in the Barséquanais. The idea is to deliver the pure expression of each geological layer of the coteau, the result of millions of years of sedimentation, leaving the soil as the only differentiating variable between the three cuvées. The result is a Blanc de Noirs from Pinot Noir grapes on a Kimmeridgian matrix, from vines located in the surroundings of Landreville, where the deep limestone delivers saline verticality and expressive clarity.

This edition KM-3, from the 2022 harvest, comes from the upper part of the slope, where the Portlandian limestone emerges at altitude and delivers a mineral tension of rare finesse, distinguished by drive and expressive luminosity. Vinification and spontaneous fermentation take place by gravity in the vigneron's new cellar, with maturation in 600-litre French oak barrels following the Burgundian approach learnt in Meursault. After tirage follows an ageing on the lees of at least 18 months, with no final dosage, in Brut Nature style, a choice that lets the soil speak without any filter.

On tasting, KM-3 appears luminous and sleek, with a very fine perlage that precedes an airy and vibrant mouth, where salinity becomes more subtle and mineral energy gains verticality. On the palate emerges a sharp and dynamic structure, crossed by notes of fresh red fruit, citrus and a chalky trail of great clarity, sustained by a taut acidity that brings drive and drinkability. The finish is long, persistent and airily savoury, with a mineral trail of rare purity that confirms the transparency of the cru and a rare ageing capacity, estimated at around fifteen years.