Ulysse Collin 'Les Maillons' Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut, Champagne, France (2015 base)

60% reserve wines. Les Maillons is a 6-hectare vineyard of which Collin owns 2.5 hectares in the village of Barbonne-Fayel in the Côte de Sézanne, just south of the Coteaux du Morin. The eastern-exposed Pinot Noir vines were planted in 1971 in heavy, iron-rich clay soils with chalky limestone sub-soils. As for all Collin Champagnes, the fruit is hand-harvested, the clusters destemmed and the grapes gently pressed; the juice is fermented spontaneously and slowly (up to six months) with natural yeasts in mainly-used Burgundy barrels; reserve wines are held in foudres and tonneaux. The wine is bottled without fining or filtering and aged sur lattes for an extended period, 3 years in the case of Les Maillons. The wine is disgorged and finished with a dosage of 1-2 grams/liter at most.